THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 


3£5  74 


The  person  charging  this  material  is  re- 
sponsible for  its  return  to  the  library  from 
which  it  was  withdrawn  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theff,    mutilation,    and    underlining    of    books    are    reasons 
for    disciplinary    action    and    may    result    in    dismissal    from 
the  University. 
To  renew  call  Telephone  Center,  333-8400 

UNIVERSITY    OF    ILLINOIS    LIBRARY    AT    URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


NOV  2  5  19; 


9 


NOV  1 1 1979 

JML  1  5  19H3 

APR     8 1983 

0EC1&4 
DEC  4    1981 


JULl 

Xi 
JUL 


M999 
I  i  1995 


OEC  2  8 


Jl  3 198. 


17 


SEP  24  7J 
SEPi 


DEC  1 


n 


991 


,171995 
894 


OCT  19 
JUL  28 

APR 

SEP 


998 
1998 

1998 


1999 
0  9  2004 

6 


AUG 


f 


282007 


L161— O-1096 


<Zuo^, 


•  *•  •• •  „  »•  ••  •  .  »■  •• •  .  a.  ••  •  ,  s .  •• .  .  #••••.  •■  ••  •  ,  ••  ••  •  •  ••  ••  •  .  ••  ••  • .  ••  ••  •  .  ••  ••  •  .  #•••••#••••,#•••••#• 

•  •.*••>  •••••>•••.•!••••  .•"••••.•"••••.•■••••.•"••■•.•■••.•.•■••••.•*••••.•"••.•.•*••••.•"••.•.•  "••••.• 

»..••  ••  •••••  •••••  •  ••••  •:•••••  •:••••  •••••  •.•••••••  •••'•".•••'•*.  ••••••••  •:•••■#••%  •••'•*»  ••■»• 

» •  •  •  ••••»  •«»••  »»»••  »»»»>  «»»•«  •»»••  •»»••  •» •••  •••••  •••••  •••••  •••••  •  •  •  •  •  •••••  • 


LLINOIS  CENTRAL 
RAILROAD 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


W.  K.  ACKERMAN 


y •.:'.* 

• 

.•• 

• 

.•.."• 

• 

;•:..« 

• 

.•:•:« 

• 

;•:.% 

• 

:•••. 

• 

;•.•. 

• 

:•.*. 

• 

:•••. 

• 

;•.*. 

• 

;♦.*. 

• 

.•: 

• 

:•••. 

• 

:•: 

•  • 

,'•••?!• 

.♦ 

• 

.» 

•••" 

.••? 

.••" 

.••? 

•••? 

••  •? 

••  • 

. 

.  • »™ 

.•  • 

:•  • 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 


ILLINOIS -CENTRAL  RAILROAD, 


TOGKTHER    WITH    A    HRIKK 


Biographical  Record  of  its  Incorporators 
and  Some  of  its  Early  Officers. 


BY 


WILLIAM    K.  ACKERMAN. 


CHICAGO: 
FERGUS   PRINTING   COMPANY, 

1890. 


U<ea~ 


INTRODUCTORY. 


r  I  AHK  following  sketches  contain  a  statement  of  facts 
^  and  incidents,  which  have  occurred  for  the  most  part 
within  the  recollection  of  the  writer — who  was  connected 
with  the  company,  in  various  capacities,  for  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty-two  years — or  have  been  gathered  from 
reliable  sources,  relating  to  an  important  work  in  the 
history  of  the  State  which  seem  to  him  worth  preserv- 
ing. He  trusts  that  they  will  prove  of  interest  to  the 
class  of  readers  who  will  be  likely  to  peruse  a  paper 
of  this  character.  Though  frequent  reference  has  been 
made  in  the  past,  in  various  forms  as  to  the  effect  upon  the 
physical  and  financial  resources  of  Illinois  by  reason  of 
the  construction  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad  at  a 
critical  period  in  the  history  of  the  State,  still  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  such  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  subject  as 
either  to  do  justice  to  the  projectors,  or  enable  the  people 
of  Illinois  to  realize  fully,  the  present  and  prospective 
benefit  conferred.  Portions  of  this  paper  have  already 
appeared  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Early  Illinois  Rail- 
roads," but  in  order  to  preserve  the  chronological  order 
of  events  in  treating  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad- 
proper,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  repeat  them  here. 

Wm.  K.  Ackermax. 

Chicago,  July,  1890. 


350471 


ILLINOIS-CENTRAL  RAILROAD 

HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

\SI> 

BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD   OK   INCORPORATORS. 


By  Wm.   K.  Ack.hr. man. 


IN  undertaking  a  brief  sketch  of  the  origin  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad,  it  is  necessary  to  refer  somewhat  in  detail 
to  the  correspondence  of  two  men  closely  identified  with  its 
early  progress,  and  whose  names  stand  out  prominently  in  the 
history  of  the  State;  I  need  hardly  say  that  these  are  the  Hon. 
Sidney  Breese  and  the  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  writing 
upon  the  subject,  if  one  were  to  confine  himself  to  the  conten- 
tions indulged  in  by  these  two  gentlemen,  for  the  credit  of  either 
originating  or  advocating  the^  scheme,  considerable  time  and 
space  would  have  to  be  given  up  in  the  endeavor  to  reconcile 
their  respective  claims.  From  the  most  careful  examination 
made  of  the  correspondence  that  passed  between  them  upon  the 
subject,  it  does  not  appear,  however,  that  either  of  these  gentle- 
men actually  originated  the  plan  of  a  central  road;  indeed 
Judge  Douglas  lays  no  positive  claim  to  this,  but  Judge  Breese, 
in  his  letter  to  the  Illinois  State  Register,  Dec.  23,  1850,  says: 
"I  must  have  the  credit  of  it,  for  I  originated  it  in  1835."  A°d 
in  his  famous  letter  to  Judge  Douglas,  written  Jan.  25,  185 1,  to 
the  latter  at  Washington,  while  in  the  senate,  he  says,  "I  claim 
to  have  first  projected  this  great  road  in  my  letter  of  October, 
1835," — meaning  his  letter  to  Judge  John  York  Sawyer  of  Oct. 
16,  1835.  But  even  in  this  letter,  he  gives  credit  for  the  plan  to 
"an  intelligent  friend  in  Bond  County,"  who  was  William  S. 
Waite  of  Greenville,  and  who  proved  himself  an  ardent  supporter 
of  the  road  until  its  final  completion.  These  claims  of  Judge 
Breese  are  referred  to  by  Judge  Douglas  in  a  somewhat  sarcastic 
as  well  as  a  facetious  manner  in  the  voluminous  correspondence* 
which  was  carried  on  during  1850  and  1851,  but  the  latter 
modestly  abstains  from  claiming  any  connection  with  the  meas- 
*  "Early  Illinois  Railroads.      Hy  W.  K.  Ackerman.     Chicago,  1884." 


6  BREESE- DOUGLAS   CORRESPONDENCE. 

ure  until  December,  1843 — the  year  in  which  he  entered  the 
house  of  representatives  and  the  same  year  in  which  Judge  Breese 
entered  the  senate — or  any  exclusive  credit  for  the  consummation 
of  the  scheme.  What  Judge  Breese  did  claim,  was  undoubtedly 
true,  viz:  that  he  had  "said  and  written"  more  in  favor  of  the 
plan  than  anyone  else,  and  for  this  he  was  entitled  to  great  credit. 

The  daily  Illinois  State  Register  of  Dec.  19,  1850,  published 
an  article,  quoted  from  the  Benton  Standard,  stating  that  Judge 
Breese  favored  what  was  known  as  the  "Holbrook  charter,"'  to 
which  particular  reference  will  be  made  hereafter.  This  stirred 
Judge  Breese  to  a  reply  in  which  he  stated  that  he  was  in  favor 
of  accepting  the  release  of  the  Cairo  company  on  condition 
that  their  rights  were  to  be  respected.  In  the  same  letter,  he 
claimed  that  he  was  entitled  to  the  credit  of  the  whole  scheme 
of  a  central  road,  having  "originated  it  in  1835."  The  editor  of 
the  Register,  while  willing  to  accord  him  all  due  credit,  reminds 
him  that  the  efforts  of  Senators  Douglas  and  Shields,  and  Repre- 
sentatives Wentworth,  McClernand,  Richardson,  Bissell,  Young, 
and  Harris,  must  not  be  overlooked:  that  they  all  did  their  duty 
and  were  deserving  of  praise.  On  Jan.  5,  1851,  Senator  Douglas 
replied  to  Judge  Breese  in  the  columns  of  the  State  Register, 
assuring  him  that  no  injustice  was  intended  to  be  done  him,  and 
reminding  him  of  the  fact  that  when  the  people  of  Chicago 
tendered  him  and  Gen.  Shields  a  complimentary  dinner  for  the 
part  they  had  taken  in  procuring  the  grant  of  land  from  the 
general  government,  they  modestly  declined  it,  and  in  their  letter 
declining  the  honor  awarded  the  principal  merit  to  their  col- 
leagues. 

To  go  back  of  the  claim*  of  both  of  these  distinguished  gen- 
tlemen, I  suppose  it  is  an  historical  fact  that  although  Judge 
Breese  brought  the  plan  prominently  before  the  people  of  the 
State  by  newspaper  publications  and  letters  to  prominent  men, 
still  the  credit  of  originating  it  really  belongs  to  Lieut. -Gov. 
Alexander  M.  Jenkins  when  in  the  State  senate  in  1832.*  This 
was  three  years  before  the  intelligent  friend  from  Bond  County 

*  One  year  after  the  first  act  relating  to  the  construction  of  railways  was 
passed  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  Jan.  28,  1831. 


, 


LIEUT.-GOV.   ALEX.    M.   JENKINS     PLAN.  7 

whispered  in  Judge  Breese's  ear.  Senator  Jenkins'  plan  was  to 
build  the  road  from  Cairo  to  Peru?  Judge  Breese's  plan  con- 
templated a  line  from  Cairo  to  Galena,  but  when  the  plan  was 
fully  developed,  Judge  Douglas  wrote  Chicago  as  the  northeast- 
ern terminus.  Judge  Breese  said  that  the  reason  for  this  was 
because  Judge  Douglas  had  been  investing  in  Chicago  real  estate 
and  on  that  account  wanted  the  road  extended  to  that  point. 
This  was  an  unfair  imputation,  but  a  natural  one,  for  Judge  Breese 
to  make,  because  his  plan  of  a  central  road  which  was  a  local 
one,  did  not  contemplate  a  branch  to  Chicago.  'Many  opposed 
the  enterprise  in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  fearing  that  a  north- 
and-south  line  would  divert  traffic  that  that  section  might  derive 
from  an  east-and-west  line  through  the  State.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  that  the  prevailing  idea  at  that  time  was  to  have  the 
products  of  Illinois  shipped  to  the  South  via  Cairo  and  the  Mis- 
sisippi  River;  but  Judge  Douglas,  who  took  a  broader  view  of 
the  enterprise,  saw  the  necessity  of  connecting  the  lakes  with 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
as  well  as  a  connection  at  Chicago  with  the  various  railways  then 
projected  or  in  process  of  construction  from  the  principal  cities 
of  the  East,  so  that  the  measure  would  commend  itself  to 
congress  as  a  national  work  tending  to  benefit  the  whole  country 
and  not  a  local  enterprise  for  the  particular  benefit  of  the  State 
of  Illinois.  Only  in  this  way  could  the  votes  of  the  members  of 
•congress  from  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  New  England,  and  other 
portions  of  the  Union  be  secured,  as  they  did  not  of  course 
favpr  any  proposition  having  for  its  tendency  the  diversion  of 
^rade  from  the  upper  Mississippi  toward  Mobile  alone. 

Judge  Breese  was  named  as  an  incorporator  in  the  first  charter 
granted  by  the  State  in'  1836  for  a  central  road  and  having  taken 
so  deep  an  interest  in  the  subject,  he  felt  a  commendable  pride  in 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  measure.  He  was  naturally  jealous 
of  his  position  in  the  matter,  hence  he  could  not  brook  a 
younger  and  more  active  rival.  But  he  was  entirely  too  sensitive 
in  supposing  that  Judge  Douglas  had  not  properly  recognized 
his  early  efforts  in  the  matter.  This  feeling  he  describes  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  Douglas,  in  which  he  says,  "In  the  outset,   I  will 


8  CAIRO  CITY-AND-CANAL  COMPANY. 

candidly  confess  that,  upon  the  subject  of  the  [Illinois-]  Central 
Railroad,  with  all  its  concomitants,  I  am  very  sensitive,  the  more 
especially  since  I  thought  I  had  discovered  a  studious  endeavor 
on  your  part  and  on  the  part  of  those  with  whom  you  have  acted, 
to  conceal  from  the  public  my  agency  in  bringing  the  measure 
into  favor  and  in  opening  the  way  for  successful  legislation  in 
regard  to  it.  In  none  of  your  speeches  and  letters  you,  and 
others  who  have  enjoyed  your  confidence,  have  made  and 
written,  has  there  been  the  least  allusion  to  the  part  I  have 
acted  in  the  matter,  nor  in  any  of  the  papers  in  the  State, 
supposed  to  be  under  your  influence.  Seeing  this,  and  believ- 
ing there  was  a  concerted  effort  to  appropriate  to  yourselves, 
exclusively,  honors  to  which  I  knew  you  were  not  entitled,  I 
deem  it  my  duty,  for  the  truth  of  history,  to  assert  my  claim,  and 
in  doing  so,  have  been  compelled,  much  against  my  will,  to 
speak  of  myself  and  of  my  acts  in  regard  to  it.  My  whole 
life  will  show  that  it  is  the  first  time  I  have  ever  exposed 
myself  to  the  charge  of  egotism,  and  under  the  influence  which 
.u-tiuitcd  me,  I   may  have  claimed  too  much." 

The  first  act  incorporating  an  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany was  passed  by  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  Jan. 
1 8,  1836.  It  was  a  special  charter  and  granted  many  valuable 
privileges.  It  contemplated  rail  communication  only  as  far  north 
as  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal.  The  scheme  proved  an  utter 
failure. 

Under  the  internal-improvement  act  passed  Feb.  27,  1837,  its 
construction  was  undertaken  by  the  State,  without  success,  as 
there  was  neither  credit  to  ensure,  or  capital  to  complete  it.  The 
appropriation  under  this  act,  $3,500,000,  was  in  any  event  totally 
inadequate. 

The  Cairo  City-and-Canal  Company  was  incorporated  March 
4,  1837.  It  was  authorized  to  hold  real  estate  in  Alexander 
County,  but  more  particularly  the  tract  of  land  incorporated  as 
the  City  of  Cairo.  They  were  to  proceed  to  lay  it  off  into  lots 
for  a  town  to  be  known  as  the  City  of  Cairo;  they  were  also 
empowered  to  construct  dykes,  canals,  levees,  "and  embankments, 
for  the  security  and  preservation  of  said  city;  also  to  construct  a 


GREAT-WESTERN   RAILWAY  —  HOLBROOK  CHARTER.      9 

canal  to  unite  with  Cache  River,  and  to  use  water  for  a  canal 
running  to  and  through  the  city.  Reference  to  this  scheme  is 
made  in  order  to  show  in  a  gradual  way  the  origin  and  progress 
of  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad;  its  connection  with  the  canal 
company  was  only  incidental,  Darius  B.  Holbrook,  who  afterward 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  effort  to  obtain  a  charter  for  a 
central  road  having  .<een  connected  with  the  canal  company. 

Five  years  later,  March  6,  1843,  the  State  having  abandoned 
the  attempt  to  build  any  more  railroads,  the  legislature  incorpo- 
rated the  dreat-Western  Railway  Company.  This  was  known  as 
the  "  Holbrook  charter,"  so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  corres- 
pondence between  Judge  Breese*  and  Judge  Douglas.  This 
charter  contemplated  a  "preemption  right"  only,  to  Holbrook 
and  his  associates,  in  which  the  State  was  to  have  no  interest, 
instead  of  a  direct  grant  of  land  to  the  State.  This  company 
was  to  consist  of  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Cairo  City- 
and  -  Cana1  Campany,  and  the  board  of  directors  were  to  be 
< ..hoser.  hat  company. 

The  road  vas  to  be  commenced  as  previously  contemplated  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  was  to  run  in  about  the  same 
direction  vm  Yandalia,  Shelbyville,  Decatur,  and  Bloomington, 
and  to  the  same  objective  point,  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal. 
Rates  of  toll  were  to  be  established  by  the  directors.  The  com- 
pany was  authorized  to  issue  bonds,  which  were  to  be  counter- 
signed by  the  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Cairo  City-and- 
Canal  Company.  Section  14  provided  that  whenever  the  whole 
indebtedness  of  the  company  was  paid  and  liquidated  then  the 
legislature  should  have  power  to  alter  and  amend  the  charter 
as  the  public  good  should  require. 

'  An  estimate  was  tc  be  made  by  a  person  appointed  by  the 
governor  of  the  value  of  the  work  already  done  by  the  State, 
under  the  internal-improvement  act  of  Feb.  27,  1837,  and  this 
was  to  be  paid  for  by  the  newly-organized  company  at  any  time 
during  the  progress  of  the  work.  When  all  the  obligations  of 
the  company  were  paid,  then  the  railroad  company  was  thereafter 

*  Judge  Breese  was  elected  to  tl.»  United  -  States  senate,  Dec.  18,  1842, 
for  full  term  commencing  March  4,  I.     3. 


10  VIEWS  OF   DOUGLAS  AND   BREESE. 

to  forever  pay  the  State,  annually,  as  a  consideration  for  grant- 
ing the  charter,  one-fourth  of  the  net  annual  income,  after  the 
shareholders  had  received  in  any  one  year  twelve  per  cent  on 
their  investment;  and  the  act  expressly  provided  that  no  legisla- 
ture should  at  any  time  so  reduce  the  tolls  as  to  produce  less 
than  twelve  per  cent  per  annum  net  to  the  shareholders. 

The  Great-Western  Railway  Company,  afto.  spending  large  sums 
of  money  in  doing  work  which  eventually  inured  to  the  benefit  of 
the  State,  became  insolvent,  and  this  third  attempt  to  build  a 
central  road  proved  a  signal  failure.  On  March  3,-  1845,  *ts 
charter  was  repealed  by  a  special  act,  passed  for  that  purpose. 

That  Judge  Breese  favored  what  was  known  as  the  Holbrook 
charter  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  on  Dec.  27,  1843,  ne  presented 
in  the  house  of  representatives  a  memorial  of  the  Great-Western 
Railway  Company,  praying  the  right  of  preemption  for  Holbrook 
and  his  associates  to  a  portion  of  the  public  lands  o';°r  which 
the  proposed  road  was  to  be  constructed.     Judge  I  ?s,  whu 

was  in  the  house  of  representatives  at  this  time,  declined  to  give 
this  bill  his  support,  very  properly  insisting  that  whatever  grant 
was  made  should  be  conferred  directly  upon  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  not  upon  an  irresponsible  private  corporation  that  he  did  not 
believe  would  carry  out  the  project,  and  which  he  stigmatized  as 
a  "stupendous  private  speculation  to  enable  the  Cairo  Company 
to  sell  their  chartered  privileges  in  England."  This  opposition 
of  Judge  Douglas  was  probably  what  first  excited  the  hostility  of 
Judge  Breese  toward  him.  Judge  Breese  refused  to  coincide  ( 
with  the  views  expressed  by  Judge  Douglas,  and  the  bill  failed  of 
passage.  His  reason  for  wishing  the  preemption  to  run  to  a  pri- 
vate corporation  was,  because  he  had  no  faith  in  the  ability  of 
the  State  to  complete  the  work.  This  was  quite  natural  consid- 
ering the  fact  that  they  had  so  signally  failed  in  all  previous 
efforts  to  build  the  road.  At  the  next  session  on  Dec.  12,  1844, 
in  deference  to  the  views  expressed  by  Judge  Breese,  Judge 
Douglas  introduced  a  bill  which  substituted  the  words  State  of 
Illinois  for  the  Holbrook  company,  as  the  party  to  whom  the  pre- 
emption right  was  to  pass;  but  he  appears  to  have  given  it  a  luke- 


I 


/ 


PRE-EMPTION    RIGHTS  —  CHICAGO   TERMINUS.         II 

warm  support  and  it  did  not  pass.  At  the  next  session,  Jan.  15, 
1S46,  Judge  Breese  reported  another  bill  to  grant  to  the  State  of 
Illinois  certain  alternate  sections  of  the  public  lands  to  aid  in  the 
construction  of  the  Northern  -  Cross  and  [Illinois-]  Central  rail- 
roads in  Illinois,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  moved  to 
take  up  this  bill.  At  the  next  session,  Dec.  17,  1846,  still 
another  bill  was  introduced  by  Judge  Breese,  covering  a  right  of 
way  and  a  preemption  right.  It  omitted  the  donations  to  the 
State,  but  permitted  it  to  purchase  the  lands  at  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter  per  acre  upon  the  condition  that  it  would  build  a  rail- 
road   through  them.      This  bill  failed  also. 

In  these  various  efforts,  it  would  appear  that  Judge  Breese 
was  in  favor  of  granting  preemption  rights  only,  and  a  right  of 
way,  either  to  a  private  corporation  or  to  the  State.  Judge v 
1  )ouglas,  on  the  other  hand,  insisted  that  an  absolute  donation 
to  the  State  should  be  made.  This  was  one  of  the  principal 
points  of  difference  between  them.  Judge  Douglas  stated 
to  Judge  Breese  that  if  he  would  consent  to  this  change  he 
would  allow  him  to  take  all  the  credit.  'Another  point  of  differ- 
ence was  in  regard  to  the  terminus  at  Chicago.  It  is  evident 
that  Judge  Douglas  particularly  favored  this  plan,  regardless 
of  whether  the  road  was  built  to  Dubuque  or  not.  And  indeed 
£be  Eastern  members  also  favored  this  plan  because  it  con- 
templated a  connection  with  the  lakes;  the  line  from  Cairo 
to  Catena  being  regarded  in  the  East  as  a  sectional  scheme, 
calculated .  to  throw  the  trade  upon  the  (lulf  of  Mexico  at  the 
expense  of  the  cities  on  the  lakes  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

Judge  Breese,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  favor  Chicago,  as  he 
freely  admits.  He  says  in  one  of  his  letters:  "You  will  recollect 
that  my  bills,  all  of  them,  established  the  roads  on  the  routes 
defined  by  our  internal-improvement  system  of  1836  and  1837, 
on  which  the  State  had  expended  such  large  sums  of  money; 
and  that  fact  was  a  strong  argument,  as  I  thought,  in  my  report. 
In  1847,  y°u  made  choice  of  Chicago  as  your  home,  and,  as  I 
understood,  purcliased  a  large  amount  of  property  there.  Now 
neither  of  my  bills  touched  Chicago;  they  confined  the  roads  to 
the  old  routes — the  [Illinois-]  Central  Road,  as  then  understood, 


12      GREAT- WESTERN -RAILWAY   CHARTER   RENEWED. 

from  Cairo,  by  Vandalia,  Shelbyville,  Decatur,  Bloomington,  Peru, 
and  Dixon,  to  Galena.  A  new  light  broke  in  upon  you  when,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Butterfield  and  others  interested  in  Chicago, 
a  great  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  disturb  my  plans  and  to 
change  the  route  of  the  [Illinois]  Central  Railroad,  so  as  to  make 
it  run  to  Chicago  and  thence  to  Galena.  You  can  not  have  for- 
gotten how  much  surprised  I  was  ,when  you  informed  me  of  your 
intention,  after  you  had  taken  your  seat,  in  December,  1847,  to 
bring  forward  this  proposition,  how  earnestly  I  urged  upon  you, 
while  admitting  the  importance  of  the  change,  an  adherence  to 
the  old  plan." 

On  Feb.  10,  1849,  tne  charter  of  the  Great-Western  Railway 
was  renewed  by  the  legislature  of  Illinois,  to  take  effect  Apr 
1849,  tne  grant  running  as  in  the  first  act,  to  the  "presiden 
directors  of  the  Cairo  City- and -Canal  Company,"  with  certain 
others  to  be  associated  with  them,  but  under  the  name  and  style 
of  the  "Great-Western  Railway."  Among  the  names  of  the 
associate  directors  will  be  found  those  of  Justin  Butterfield, 
John  B.  Turner,  Mark  Skinner,  and  Henry  Corwith.  The  new 
board  was  reinstated  with  all  the  powers  and  privileges  con- 
tained in  the  first  act,  the  act  repealing  the  charter  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding.  Many  additional  and  valuable  privileges 
were  conveyed  by  the  State/including  a  grant  of  the  right  of 
way  and  of  all  the  work  and  ^surveying  done  at  the  expense  of 
the  State.  The  new  company  was  to  expend  at  least  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  within  three  years,  and  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  each  year  thereafter  until  the  line  was  completed 
from  the  city  of  Cairo  to  the  city  of  Chicago.) 

The  governor  of  the  State  was  to  hold  in  trust,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  company,  whatever  lands  might  be  donated  by  the  general 
government  to  the  State  of  Illinois  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  the  road,  anticipating,  as  it  were,  the  action  of  the  general 
government,  the  question  of  a  land-grant  having  already  been 
freely  discussed  in  congress. 

Simultaneous  with  this,  Judge  Breese,  from  the  committee  on 
public  lands — of  which  he  was  chairman  during  the  last  four 
years  of  his  term  as  senator — reported  the  following  bill  in  the 
United-States  senate,  February  1,  1849: 


BILL    PROVIDING    FOR   SALE   OF    LANDS.  1 3 

"A  bill  to  grant  the  right  of  way  across  the  public  lands  and 
to  dispose,  of  said  land  in  aid  of  the  several  states  in  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  and  canals. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  congress  asse/u/ded,  That  whenever 
any  state  in  which  public  land  is  situated  have,  or  shall  authorize 
the  construction  of  any  railroad  or  canal,  and  the  route  of  the 
same  shall  have  been  surveyed  and  returned  to  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  the  right  of  way  on  said  route,  so  far  as  the  same  is 
situated  on  the  public  land,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  granted  for 
said  purpose;  and  also  the  right  to  take  stone  and  timber  and 
materials  for  said  erection  on  any  of  the  public  land  adjacent,  so 
long  as  said  land  is  unsold;  and  the  land  for  the  space  of  one 
hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  said  route  shall  be 
and  remain  for  that  purpose,  so  long  as  said  canal  or  railroad  is 
sustained. 

"Section  3.  And  it  is  further  enacted,  That  when  the  survey 
of  said  route  shall  have  been  returned  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  he  shall,  at  the  request  of  the  governor  of  said  state, 
reserve  from  public  sale  all  or  so  much  of  the  public  lands 
within  ten  miles  of  said  route,  as  said  governor,  by  direction  of 
the  legislature  of  said  state,  shall  request,  and  the  same  shall  be 
retained  for  said  state,  and  shall  be  sold  and  conveyed  to  said 
state  or  to  whoever  said  state  shall  direct,  at  and  for  the  minimum 
price  per  acre,  in  such  quantities  and  at  such  times  as  said  state 
shall  desire,  in  aid  of  said  construction.  Provided,  nevertheless, 
that  said  route  shall  be  so  surveyed  and  returned,  and  said  land 
so  reserved,  within  three  years  from  the  passing  of  this  law;  and 
all  of  said  land  not  actually  so  purchased  and  paid  for  by  said 
state,  within  ten  years  from  the  passing  of  this  act,  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  sale  and  private  entry  in  the  same  manner  as  if  the  same 
had  not  been  reserved.  And  provided  further,  that  this  shall  not 
extend  to  any  land  but  such  as  is  subject  to  private  sale  at  one 
dollar  and  twenty  -five  cents  per  acre;  and  nothing  in  this  act 
contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  grant  to  any  state  such  right 
of  preemption  to  any  land  heretofore  set  apart  or  reserved  for 
schools,  nor  to  any  public  land  which  may  have  been  reserved  by 


14         GRANT   OF   ALTERNATE   SECTIONS   OF    LAND. 

the  United  States  for  military  or  other  public  purposes,  nor  to 
mineral  lands,  nor  to  any  to  which  a  right  of  preemption  may 
previously  have  been  acquired  by  any  person  or  persons."  This 
bill  passed  the  senate,  February  13,  1849 — was  presented  in  the 
house  by  Jacob  Collamer  from  Vermont — but  met  with  consider- 
able opposition,  and  failed  of  passage  there.  This  bill  also,  it 
will  be  noticed,  contemplated  only  a  preemption  of  lands. 

As  far  back  as  1848,  Senator  Douglas  had  introduced  a  bill  in 
the  United-States  senate,  granting  alternate  sections  of  the  public 
land  to  the  State  of  Illinois  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  rail- 
road from  Cairo  to  Galena  with  a  branch  to  Chicago.  This  bill 
was  reported  from  the  senate  committee  on  public  lands  of  which 
Sidney  Breese  of  Illinois  was  chairman.  It  was  subsequently 
taken  up  and  early  in  May  was  passed  by  the  senate.  The 
representatives  in  the  house  from  Illinois  all  gave  it  their  cordial 
support,  but  toward  the  close  of  the  session  it  was  laid  on  the 
table  by  a  small  majority.  At  the  next  session,  1848-9,  Douglas 
again  introduced  his  bill  in  the  senate,  but  before  any  action  was 
had  in  that  body,  the  Illinois  representatives  in  the  house  had 
succeeded  in  having  the  bill  of  the  last  session  restored  to  its 
place  on  the  calendar;  but  congress  adjourned  without  any 
further  action  on  the  bill  by  the  house. 

In  December,  1849,  Douglas,  with  his  colleague,  Gen.  James 
Shields,  who  had  succeeded  Breese,  and  the  Illinois  delegation 
in  the  house  matured  a  bill  looking  to  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Road  and  its  Chicago  branch.  That  bill,  which 
all  the  Illinois  members  had  a  voice  in  framing,  was  introduced 
in  the  senate  by  Douglas  in  January,  1850.  During  its  pendence 
in  the  senate,  besides  receiving  the  support  of  the  Illinois 
senators,  it  was  advocated  by  Henry  Clay,  William  H.  Seward, 
John  C.  Calhoun,  William  H.  King,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and 
Gen.  Lewis  Cass. 

While  the  bill  was  pending,  the  Cairo  City-and-Canal  Company 
induced  the  legislature  of  Illinois  to  pass  a  measure  ceding  to 
that  company  all  lands  that  might  at  any  time  be  granted  by 


ACT   OF   CONGRESS   ACCEPTED.  1 5 

congress  to  the  State,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad.  Senator  Douglas  was  still  unwilling  that  the 
grant  should  pass  to  a  private  corporation  direct,  and  finally 
induced  Darius  R  Holbrook  of  Cairo,  111.,  the  president  of  the 
Cairo  City-and-Canal  Company  to  release  to  the  State  of  Illinois 
all  the  rights  of  that  company,  which  he  did,  executing  on  Dec. 
24,  1849,  on  behalf  of  his  company  as  president,  a  full  release 
and  surrender  to  the  State  of  Illinois  of  what  was  known  as  the 
Holbrook  charter  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  therein  con- 
tained; in  accordance  with  which,  the  legislature  on  Dec.  17, 
185 1,  passed  an  act  accepting  this  release  and  repealing  all  the 
acts  which  they  had  before  granted  to  this  company — Jan.  16, 
1836,  March  6,  1843,  ar)d  Feb.  10,  1849. 

Judge  Douglas  in  his  letter  to  Judge  Breese  of  March  13, 
1851,  well  says:  "I  can  well  conceive  that  it  might  prove  better 
for  Mr.  Holbrook  and  his  partners,  and  more  effectual  for  their 
schemes  of  speculation  for  them  to  have  had  a  preemption  than 
for  the  State  to  have  had  a  grant;  but  I  apprehend  that  you  will 
find  it  difficult  to  convince  any  citizen  of  Illinois  who  was  not  a 
partner  in  the  speculation,  that  it  was  better  for  the  State  not  to 
/uive  the  lands  than  to  have  them,  or  to  be  required  to  pay  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter  an  acre  for  them,  instead  of  receiving  them  for  noth- 
ing under  the  act  of  last  session. 

The  same  act  accepted  the  act  of  congress  of  Sept.  20,  1850, 
granting  the  lands  to  the  State  of  Illinois  to  aid  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  railroad  from  Chicago  to  Mobile.  The  Mobile-and- 
Ohio  Railroad  was  not  however  fully  completed  from  Columbus, 
Kentucky,  to  Cairo,  until  1874.  In  1872,  the  Illinois-Central 
Railroad  Company  extended  its  aid  to  the  Mississippi  -  Central 
Railroad  Company,  and  that  line  was  extended  from  Jackson, 
Tennessee,  to  Fillmore,  a  point  nearly  opposite  Cairo;  and  thus 
for  the  first  time  was  completed  an  all  rail  communication  from 
the  lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  bill  making  a  grant  of  lands  to  the  states  of  Illinois,  Mis- 
sissippi, and  Alabama,  passed  the  United-States  senate  on  May 
2,  1850,  by  a  vote  of  26  to  14,  and  was  passed  in  the  house  on 
September  1  7,  1850,  by  a  vote  of  101  to  73.    Mobile  was  inserted 


1 6  MOBILE — EFFORTS   OF  JOHN   S.    WRIGHT. 

as  the  objective  point  by  Thomas  Childs,  jr.,  of  New  York,  who 
was  at  that  time  largely  interested  in  the  Mobile-and-Ohio  Rail- 
road Company. 

Hon.  John  Wentworth,  in  his  "Congressional  Reminiscences," 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  proceedings  attending  the 
passage  of  this  bill  in  the  house  —  and  the  State  of  Illinois  is 
largely  indebted  to  him  for  the  efforts  he  put  forward  in  that 
direction — but  the  claim  that  he  once  owned  one-fourth  of  the 
capital  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  must  be  regarded 
as  an  extravagance  of  speech.  Hon.  George  Ashmun  of  the 
Springfield  district,  Mass.,  and  a  friend  of  Daniel  Webster,  dis- 
tinguished himself  among  the  non-resident  supporters  of  the  bill. 
It  was  largely  through  his  influence  in  the  house  that  the  bill 
was  passed.  On  their  return  to  Illinois  at  the  close  of  the  session, 
Judge  Douglas  and  Gen.  Shields  were  tendered  a  public  dinner 
by  the  citizens  of  Chicago  in  consideration  of  their  services  in 
obtaining  the  passage  of  this  act.  In  declining  the  honor,  they 
modestly  awarded  to  their  colleagues  in  the  house  the  full  measure 
of  credit  for  having  successfully  carried  the  bill  through  to  com- 
pletion. John  S.  Wright  of  Chicago,  worked  most  faithfully  to 
secure  the  land-grant  from  congress  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
the  Central  Road.  He  wrote  and  had  printed  and  distributed 
at  his  own  expense,  circulars  stating  briefly  the  necessity  of  the 
road  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  six  thousand  copies  of 
petitions  to  congress  urging  the  passage  of  the  act.  These  peti- 
tions were  prepared  in  three  different  forms,  so  as  to  meet  the 
wishes  of  the  South,  the  East,  and  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  set 
forth  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  each  section.  At  that  time, 
such  documents  were  mailed  free  to  postmasters,  and  he  kept  a 
clerk  busy  for  weeks  sending  these  to  ever)'  postmaster  between 
the  lakes  and  the  Gulf.  The  requests  to  the  postmasters  to  get 
signers  and  forward  the  petitions  to  their  congressmen  were 
promptly  attended  to,  and  the  petitions  came  in  by  thousands, 
and  had  much  influence  with  members.  Wright  also  went  to 
Washington  and  spent*  considerable  time  laboring  for  the  passage 
of  the  bill;  he  also  published  a  pamphlet  in  which  he  took  the 

*  Address  of  Augustine  W.  Wright  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society. 


GRANT   TO   ILLINOIS,    MISSISSIPPI,  AND   ALABAMA.       1 7 

ground  that  the  grant  was  of  such  immense  value,  it  should  go 
■direct  to  the  State  and  that  it  should  hold  the  lands  and  build 
the  road  from  the  proceeds  of  their  sale.  He  wrote:  "the 
State  would  be  everlastingly  dishonored  if  the  legislature  did  not 
devise  laws  to  build  the  road,  and  disenthrall  the  State  of  its 
enormous  debt  besides,  out  of  the  avails  of  this  land  grant." 
The  suggestion  was  not  altogether  unfeasible,  but  it  is  exceed- 
ingly doubtful  whether  the  State  could  have  carried  out  the 
project  as  successfully  as  a  private  corporation;  judging  retro- 
spectively, it  is  fair  to  presume  that  it  would  have  made  another 
and  signal  failure  in  such  an  attempt. 

^/On  Sept.  20,  1850,  the  act  passed  by  the  thirty-first  congress, 
on  the  17th  of  that  month,  was  approved,  "granting  the  right  of 
way  and  making  a  grant  of  lands  to  the  states  of  Illinois,  Missis- 
sippi, and  Alabama,  in  aid  of  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
the  southern  terminus  of  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal  to  a 
point  at  or  near  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers, 
Cairo,  with  a  branch  of  the  same  to  Chicago,  and  another  via 
the  town  of  Galena  to  Dubuque  in  the  State  of  Iowa."  Gov. 
'William  H.  Bissell,  afterward  a  solicitor  of  the  company,  was  in 
the  house  at  the  time  this  act  was  passed.  This  was  accomplished 
after  repeated  attempts  had  been  made,  beginning  in  the  year 
1843,  under  the  leadership  of  Sidney  Breese.  Augustus  C. 
Dodge,  senator  from  Iowa,  suggested  the  amendment  providing 
for  the  termination  at  Dubuque. 

In  order  to  aid  in  the  continuation  of  this  road  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  River  to  Mobile,  similar  rights  were  conferred  upon 
the  states  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  Mobile  was  the  objec- 
tive point  on  the  south,  and  the  Mobile -and -Ohio  Railroad  par- 
ticipated in  the  advantages  of  the  grant,  receiving  its  share  of  the 
public  lands  through  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  The 
evident  design  was  to  promote  traffic,  particularly  in  food  prod- 
ucts from  Chicago  and  the  Northwest  and  cotton  from  the  Gulf 
States  to  the  South  and  to  Europe  via  Mobile,  but  the  shallow- 
ness of  the  water  in  Mobile  Bay  and  the  consequent  expense 
of  lighterage  and  of  other  charges  was  an  insuperable  objection  to 
foreign  shipments  via  that  point,  and  to  this  extent,  the  plan  of 
2 


1 8      MOBILE   AND   NEW   ORLEANS — DUBUQUE   BRIDGE. 

connecting  the  lakes  with  the  gulf  was  a  failure.*  The  construc- 
tion of  the  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River,  at  a  later 
date,  placed  New  Orleans  in  a  more  favorable  position.  Besides 
the  immense  traffic  carried  to  that  point  by  rail,  a  large  quantity  of 
corn  is  shipped  to  the  latter  city  in  barges  from  St.  Louis  for  trans- 
shipment abroad.  The  grant  of  lands  referred  to  was  to  cover 
alternate  sections  in  even  numbers  within  six  miles,  if  vacant 
lands  to  this  extent  could  be  found;  if  not,  then  within  fifteen 
miles.  All  preemption  rights_weje  to  be  respected,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  this  provision,  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company 
afterward  accepted  payment  for  such  lands  from  actual  settlers  at 
the  government  price.  The  act  further  provided  that  the  con-^- 
struction  of  the  road  should  be  commenced  at  Cairo  on  the  south, 
and  at  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal  on  the  north,  simultane- 
ously, and  continued  from  each  of  said  points  until  completed, 
after  which  the  branches  to -Chicago  and  Dubuque,  Iowa,  were  / 
to  be  extended.  The  provision,  as  to  the  extension  to  Dubuque, 
was  a  singular  one  to  apply  to  a  road  that  depended  upon  the 
State  of  Illinois  for  its  charter — it  assumed  that  a  bridge  was  to 
be  constructed  across  the  Mississippi  River  between  Dunleith  and 
Dubuque  connecting  the  two  states,  but  made  no  requirement  as 
to  its  construction.  In  point  of  fact,  this  bridge  was  not  built 
until  nineteen  years  after — in  1869 — thirteen  years  after  the  rail- 
road was  completed,  and  then  under  a  separate  charter,  t  Fifteen 
years  after  its  completion,  the  railroad  company  acquired  a  con- 

*  A  plan  is  now  on  foot  for  deepening  the  water  in  Mobile  Bay  which  if 
successfully  carried  out  will  add  materially  to  the  prosperity  of  that  city. 

Mobile  Bay,  from  Mobile  to  Fort  Morgan,  is  36  miles  in  length  with  a 
varying  width  of  from  10  to  20  miles.  During  the  past  five  or  six  years,  the 
government  has  been  making  small  appropriations  for  the  purpose  of  dredging 
out  a  channel  to  the  depth  of  23  feet  and  300  feet  in  width,  to  admit  of  vessels 
drawing  23  feet  of  water  coming  up  to  the  wharves  of  Mobile.  This  year — 
1890,  there  is  an  appropriation  of  $350,000  for  continuing  this  work.  It  has 
passed  the  house  and  if  not  cut  down  in  the  senate,  it  will  enable  a  considera- 
ble amount  of  work  to  be  done  in  the  next  year  upon  this  channel.  Mobile 
is  improving  and  from  its  close  proximity  to  the  high  seas  ought  to  be  the 
most  important  port  on  the  Gulf  coast  for  reaching  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  and 
West  Indies,  and  Central  and  South  American  countries. 

t  The  Dunleith -and -Dubuque  Bridge  Company. 


IOWA   LINES   CONSTRUCTED.  19 

trolling  interest  in  it,  thus  fully  perfecting  the  original  design  of 
a  continuous  railway  from  Cairo  to  Dubuque.* 

The  grant  of  land  was  to  apply  to  the  main  road  and  branches, 
respectively,  in  quantities  corresponding  to  the  length  of  each, 
and  only  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  work  progressed.  All  lands 
that  had  been  previously  granted  to  the  State  in  aid  of  the 
Illinois -and -Michigan  Canal  were  to  be  reserved  from  the  opera- 
tions of  the  act,  and  the  price  of  these  was  to  be  increased  to 
double  the  minimum  price  of  government  lands.  So  that  one 
effect  of  the  grant  was  to  immediately  enhance  the  value  of  the 
canal  lands. 

The  grant  from  the  United-States  government  was  to  go  direct 
to  the  State  of  Illinois  for^he_purpo§jLaameo>:  TrTe"railroad  and 
branches  when  compTeted_were  to  remain  a  "public  highway"  for 
the  use  of  the  government,  free  from  toll  or  other  charge  upon 
the  transportation  of  any  property  or  troops  of  the  United  States. 
That  is  to  say — the  use  of  the  road  bed  should  be  allowed  the 
government,  but  the  railroad  companies  should  not  be  obliged  to 
furnish  equipment  and  men  to  handle  the  business.  Consequently 
it  was  mutually  agreed,  that  the^government  should  be  entitled 
to  a  reduction  of  thirty -three  and  one -third  per  cent  from  the 
regular  tariff  rates  on  all  transportation  conducted  for  their  account, 
this  percentage  representing  the  value  of  the  use  of  the  highway 
or  road  bed.  The  United -States  mails  were  also  to  be  trans- 
ported over  the  road  for  sucri  compensation  as  congress  might 
direct.  In  case  the  road  was  not  completed  within  ten  years, 
the  State  of  Illinois  was  to  be  required  to  pay  back  to  the  United 

*  October  13,  1867,  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  leased  the  Du- 
buque-and -Sioux -City  Railroad  extending  from  Dubuque  to  Sioux  City,  a 
distance  of  143  miles,  for  twenty  years  with  privilege  of  taking  the  same  in 
perpetuity.  The  lease  included  the  Cedar- Falls -and -Minnesota  Railroad 
extending  from  Waverly  north  to  Mona,  a  distance  of  75^  miles.  A  year 
later,  it  leased,  upon  the  same  terms,  the  Iowa-Falls-and-Sioux-City  Railroad 
extending  from  Iowa  Falls  to  Sioux  City,  a  distance  of  184  miles.  In  1887, 
it  constructed  the  Cherokee -and -and -Dakota  Railroad  from  Onawa  to  Sioux 
Falls,  a  distance  of  155^  miles,  and  the  Cedar- Rapids-and-Chicago  Railroad 
from  Manchester  to  Cedar  Rapids,  42  miles;  making  a  total  mileage  now 
operated,  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  of  600  miles. 


20  FIRST    MEETING   OF    INCORPORATORS. 

States  the  amount  which  it  might  have  received  upon  the  sale  of 
any  part  of  the  lands  and  to  reconvey  any  lands  unsold. 

In  a  small  and  dimly-lighted  room  at  No.  i  Hanover  Street,  a 
little  narrow  street  leading  out  of  Wall  Street,  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  the  early  spring  of  the  year  185  1,  there  met  a  number 
of  gentlemen  who  were  known  in  law  as  the  incorporators  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company.  It  was  no  new  scheme  that 
they  met  to  consider,  but  an  old  one  they  were  about  to  revive. 
In  entering  upon  this  great  work,  they  were  not  indulging  in  mere 
speculation  or  experiment;  many  of  them  had  been  connected 
with  other  successful  enterprises  and  this  experience  helped  them 
to  form  a  proper  judgment  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  they 
were  about  to  undertake.  Probably  no  body  of  incorporators,  or 
directors  as  they  afterward  became,  was  ever  imbued  with  more 
earnest  determination,  confident  reliance,  pride  of  undertaking, 
and  honesty  of  purpose.  And  it  may  be  added  that  no  corpor- 
ate body  was  ever  formed  that  was  composed  of  men  of  more 
indomitable  energy,  integrity  of  character,  business  capacity, 
sagacity,  and  foresight.  They  were  men  who  lived  and  moved  in 
the  healthy  atmosphere  of  commercial  probity  and  stood  high  in 
the  estimation  of  their  fellow-men.  In  social  life,  their  estab- 
lished reputations  gave  them  a  standing  among  men  that  could 
not  be  disputed.  In  the  prosecution  of  their  trust,  the  interest 
of  the  shareholders  they  represented  was  regarded  as  identical 
with  their  own.  The  shareholders  in  turn  appreciated  this  and 
whatever  mistakes  were  made  were  promptly  overlooked.  This 
feeling  of  mutual  confidence  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  board 
in  all  they  undertook  and  gave  character  to  the  enterprise  abroad. 
The  enterprise  upon  which  they  pinned  their  faith,  they  pro- 
moted and  sustained  to  a  large  extent  with  their  private  fortunes. 
It  is  true  that  they  had  much  to  stimulate  them  in  their  efforts  — 
a  promise  of  two  million  and  a-half  of  acres  of  beautiful,  rich,  and 
fertile  prairie  land  was  no  mean  incentive  to  urge  them  on.  Yet  it 
certainly  required  no  little  amount  of  courage  to  take  up  a  pro- 
ject that  had  already  been  three  times  attempted,  twice  by  organ- 
ized corporations  and  once  by  the  State  of  Illinois,  each  time 


MOTIVES   GOVERNING   THEM.  21 

with  the  same  result  —  disastrous  failure.  But  in  this  instance, 
whatever  might  be  their  fate  as  individual  investors,  the  benefit 
to  be  conferred  upon  the  State  of  Illinois  by  the  successful 
accomplishment  of  the  work  would  be  not  less  marked.  When 
the  dark-days  of  the  panic  of  1857  overshadowed  them,  they 
might  have  abandoned  their  trust  and  sold  their  respective 
interests  for  what  they  would  bring,  but  this  would  have  been  to 
them  a  poor  substitution  for  the  realization  of  their  plans,  and 
such  an  idea  does  not  seem  to  have  entered  their  minds.  They 
knew,  moreover,  that  there  were  those  who  had  been  induced  to 
invest  their  money  in  the  enterprise  because  their  names  had  been 
identified  with  it,  and  they  felt  that  they  were  resting  under  a 
moral  obligation  to  save  these  from  pecuniary  loss  if  possible. 
It  is  very  refreshing  to  look  back  in  the  history  of  American 
railways  and  consider  personal  character,  and  I  wish  to  pause 
here  to  offer  tribute  to  the  characters  of  certain  men  connected 
with  this  early  and  important  enterprise  in  the  history  of  our 
State,  most  of  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  know  and  to  some  of 
whom,  I  was  placed  under  personal  obligation. 

Most  prominent  among  those  who  were  instrumental  in  bring- 
ing  this   great   work   to  a  successful   termination,  was 

Jonathan  Sturges  who  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of 
the  company,  and  a  director  from  February  10,  1851  to  May 
28,  1862;  he  was  again  elected,  May  17,  1868,  and  held  the 
office  until  the  time  of  his  death,  Nov.  28,  1874.  He  was  also 
acting-president  at  one  time.  In  the  management  of  this  prop- 
erty, he  applied  the  same  rules  of  commercial  integrity  that  were 
employed  in  his  own  business.  In  the  days  of  its  sorest  trials, 
Mr.  Sturges  proved  the  main-stay  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad, 
and  in  the  time  of  its  greatest  financial  depression  when  the 
price  of  its  shares  declined,  his  great  fear  was  that  some  who 
had  been  induced  to  purchase  them  owing  to  his  official  relation 
with  the  company,  might  suffer  loss.  Mr.  Sturges  was  born  at 
Southport,  Ct,  March  24,  1802.  He  was  one  of  the  honored  mer- 
chants of  the  city  of  New  York.  His  business-house  was  estab- 
lished about  1834  and  was  then  Reed  and  Sturges;  afterward  it 


22  JONATHAN    STURGES. 

became  Reed,  Hempstead  and  Sturges,  and  later,  Sturges,  Ben- 
nett and  Company,  wholesale  grocers  at  No.  125  Front  Street. 
He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  chamber  of  commerce,  July  1, 
1834,  and  was  elected  its  vice-president  in  1863,  and  retired  from 
that  office  in  1867.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter 
addressed  to  Mr.  Sturges  by  his  brother  merchants,  Dec.  30,  1867, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  retiring  from  business  and  inviting  him  to 
meet  them  at  dinner:  "Your  life  among  us  of  nearly  half-a 
century  in  the  same  locality  in  Front  Street,  we  can  truly  say  has 
been  such  as  commends  itself  to  every  one  both  old  and  young, 
who  regard  that  which  is  true,  just,  and  noble,  in  mercantile 
character." 

Mr.  Sturges  was  a  liberal  patron  of  the  fine  arts,  and  was  elected 
an  honorary  member  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  in  1837, 
and  at  that  time  and  through  all  the  earlier  years  of  the  society, 
was  one  of  its  best  friends.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  old 
Sketch  Club  which  is  now  continued  under  the  name  of  the 
Century  Club.  He  was  among  the  first  to  recognize  and  patron- 
ize American  artists:  the  works  of  Coles,  Kensett,  Cropsey, 
Jarvis,  and  Church,  adorned  the  walls  of  his  beautiful  home,  and 
form  today  a  valuable  collection  of  purely  American  paintings. 
He  was  a  leading  and  devout  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
a  christian  of  genuine  humility,  and  one  who  recognized  his 
responsibility  to  God.  His  religious  belief  was  reflected  in  his 
daily  life,  presenting  a  noble  example  to  young  men  who  could 
learn  from  him  to  prize  what  is  most  excellent  in  the  pursuits 
of  life.  After  his  retirement  from  active  business,  he  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  works  of  benevolence.  He  was  always 
generous  in  his  gifts  to  the  worthy  poor  and  was  closely  identified 
with  many  of  the  leading  charities  of  the  city,  to  the  support  of 
which  he  made  liberal  contributions  in  his  life  time ;  and  these 
were  continued  even  after  his  death,  for,  though  in  his  will  he 
omitted  to  make  any  special  bequests  of  this  character,  the  twelfth 
clause  of  his  will  provided  as  follows:  "I  have  omitted  in  this 
will  to  make  bequests  to  various  objects  and  systems  of  benevo- 
lence in  which  I  feel  a  deep  interest,  as  I  desire  to  charge  each 
of  my  children  and  descendants  with  the  responsibility  of  admin- 


CHAMBER -OF -COMMERCE   TRIBUTE.  23 

istering  the  means  placed  in  his  or  her  hands  as  one  who  must 
give  an  account  thereof;  they  know  my  views  and  practice  in  this 
respect  and  the  objeqts  I  cherish,  and  I  confidently  hope  they 
will  always  realize  the  happiness  of  promoting,  as  they  may  be 
able,  the  best  interests  of  our  race,  and  of  dispensing  of  their 
abundance  to  the  relief  of  those  who  may  be  straitened  under 
the  visitations  of  adversity." 

On  Dec.  3,  1874,  the  directors  of  the  chamber  of  commerce 
ordered  the  following  minute  to  be  entered  upon  their  record: 

"In  1868,  Mr.  Sturges  retired  from  active  business  with  an 
ample  fortune  and  a  reputation  for  probity  and  honor  which  is 
better  than  earthly  riches.  He  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  the 
foremost  man  in  the  tea  and  coffee  trades  which  he  had  followed 
for  so  many  years,  and  was  recognized  as  a  wise  counsellor,  and 
a  warm  and  steadfast  friend.  The  good  example  which  he  lived 
doubtless  did  much  to  impart  to  the  whole  body  of  traders,  of 
which  his  house  was  a  conspicuous  member,  that  character  for 
integrity  and  upright  dealing  which  it  has  always  borne  —  which 
it  still  maintains."  *  *  Mr.  Sturges  was  a  promoter  of  many 
important  undertakings,  as  well  as  an  able  coadjutor  in  all,  and 
in  the  discharge  of  his  various  and  responsible  duties,  he  was 
always  governed  by  a  rectitude  of  purpose  and  unswerving  fidel- 
ity to  his  trust.  Good  sense  and  a  sound  judgment  were  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  his  great  worth  in  all  corporate 
bodies.  As  one  of  the  founders  and  directors  of  the  Bank  of 
Commerce,  as  director  and  acting-president  of  the  Illinois-Central 
Railroad  Company,  as  one  of  the  proprietors  and  directors  of 
the  New-York  and  New-Haven  Railroad  Company,  and  as  vice- 
president  of  this  association,  he  was  widely  known  and  held  in 
high  regard.  Nor  was  it  in  the  walks  of  business,  in  the  counting- 
room,  and  in  the  exchange,  that  he  was  chiefly  honored  and 
beloved — he  was  a  recognized  patron  of  art.  In  the  church,  he 
manifested  the  virtues  of  a  christian;  in  society,  the  unostenta- 
tious attributes  of  a  gentleman;  in  the  service  of  his  country, 
the  devoted  zeal  of  a  true  patriot;  as  a  citizen,  the  love  of  the 
philanthropist,  never  forgetting  his  obligations  to  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  crippled,  but  extending  to  all  the  benefactions  of  a 


24  GEORGE   GRISWOLD. 

warm  heart  and  of  an  open  hand.  The  homage  we  paid  to  the 
good  man  when  living  we  desire  to  perpetuate  in  hallowed  mem- 
ories, and  to  this  end,  we  inscribe  on  our  minutes  the  sentiments 
that  are  graven  on  our  hearts — of  gratitude  for  this  life  of  un- 
common beauty,  of  sincere  sorrow  for  our  own  great  loss,  and  of 
our  sympathy  for  the  family  of  the  bereaved  to  whom  it  is  ordered 
that  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  be  transmitted  after  being  signed  by 
the  officers  of  the  chamber." 

He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Nov.  28,  1874.  The  Sturges 
Pavilion,  within  the  grounds  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  was  erected 
as  a  memorial  to  Mr.  Sturges  at  a  cost  of  $30,000.  It  is  in  fact  a 
surgical  operating-room  furnished  with  every  necessary  appliance 
for  skilfully  conducting  amputations  and  other  operations.  It 
was  found,  that  of  the  operations  performed  within  the  hospital 
walls,  a  large  percentage  proved  fatal  owing  to  the  unhealthy 
surroundings;  since  the  operations  have  been  carried  on  in  the 
pavilion  this  percentage  has  been  very  materially  reduced. 

George  Griswold  was  of  the  firm  of  N.  L.  and  G.  Griswold 
who  occupied  a  rough  -  granite  store  at  No.  71  and  72  South 
Street  in  the  city  of  New  York.  This  building  was  a  fitting 
emblem  of  the  standing  and  credit  of  the  house.  They  were 
engaged  in  the  China  trade,  sailing  the  good  ship  Panama,  and 
did  a  very  large  business,  selling  Canton  goods,  teas,  etc.  J.  N. 
A.  Griswold,  son  of  George  Griswold,  who  in  1855  became  presi- 
dent of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  was  sent  as  super- 
cargo on  the  Panama  to  China,  and  resided  there  for  many  years. 
Mr.  Griswold  came  to  New  York  from  Lyme,  Conn.,  in  1874,  and 
in  1876  the  house  was  established.  In  those  early  years,  the  mer- 
chants ruled  the  city,  and  participation  in  politics  was  regarded 
not  only  as  honorable  but  as  an  imperative  duty.  He  made  an 
excellent  presiding  officer  at  political  or  popular  meetings  for  any 
purpose.  He  was  always  ready  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
city  and  added  largely  to  its  prosperity  in  his  day.  He  had  many 
noble  traits  of  character,  and  more  than  one  young  merchant 
owed  his  success  to  the  help  and  counsel  Mr.  Griswold  afforded. 
Although  well  advanced   in   years    at   the   time,  he   took    part 


LEROY   If.   WILEY.  25 

in  the  organization  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  in 
1 85 1,  he  was  a  man  of  such  wonderful  energy  for  his  years  and 
possessed  of  such  remarkable  will  power,  that  many  of  the 
younger  men  engaged  with  him  in  this  important  work,  found  it 
no  small  task  to  keep  up  with  his  movements.  He  was  a  director 
in  the  Bank  of  America  for  many  years,  and  was  also  interested 
in  many  institutions  of  a  public  character  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  attending 
Dr.  Pott's  church.  He  died  in  New  York,  Sept.  18,  1859,  in  the 
old  homestead  which  he  had  occupied  for  so  many  years  at  No. 
9  Washington  Square. 

Leroy  M.  Wiley  was  born  in  Hancock  County,  Georgia, 
on  Oct.  30,  1794.  His  father  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  and 
his  mother  in  Mecklenberg  County,  North  Carolina;  they  were 
both  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  and  were  among  the  early  settlers 
in  Hancock  County,  Georgia.  About  the  year  1800,  they  re- 
moved to  Baldwin  County  and  resided  on  a  farm  near  Milledge- 
ville,  which  had  been  made  the  capital  of  the  state.  Here  his 
father  died,  leaving  his  widowed  mother  with  seven  children  in 
limited  means  to  fight  the  battle  of  life  alone  and  to  provide  for 
their  support  and  education.  Under  these  circumstances,  Leroy 
the  eldest  son,  then  only  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  placed  in  a 
dry-goods  store  in  Milledgeville  to  earn  his  living  and  make  his 
way  in  the  world.  With  a  limited  education,  by  industry  and 
integrity,  faithfulness  and  close  application  to  business,  he 
soon  gained  the  confidence  of  all  those  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact  and  laid  the  foundation  for  his  success  in  life. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  manhood,  Mr.  Wiley  entered  into  business 
with  Thos.  W.  Baxter,  who  had  married  his  eldest  sister,  under  the 
name  of  Wiley  and  Baxter,  and  for  many  years  this  firm  con- 
tinued in  Milledgeville  doing  a  large  and  profitable  business. 
After  the  settlement  of  Macon,  they  opened  an  additional  store 
in  that  city  where  they  were  equally  successful.  In  1832,  the 
firm  was  divided,  Baxter  moving  to  Macon,  and  Wiley  went  to 
Charleston,  S.  C,  at  trfe  invitation  of  the  Messrs.  Parish  of  New 
York  and  became  associated  in  business  with  them  under  the 


26  LEROY    M.   WILEY. 

firm-name  of  L.  M.  Wiley,  Parish  and  Company  in  Charleston, 
and  Parish  and  Company  in  New  York.  They  did  a  large  and 
lucrative  business  extending  throughout  the  Southern  States,  and 
thus  Mr.  Wiley  became  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  the  South 
and  a  man  of  wealth.  After  the  retirement  of  the  Messrs.  Parish 
from  business,  Mr.  Wiley  removed  to  New  York  and  became  the 
head  of  the  house  under  the  name  of  L.  M.  Wiley  and  Company, 
and  afterward  as  a  special  partner  in  the  firm  of  W.  G.  Lane 
and  Company,  continuing  in  business  until  1854. 

In  the  winter  of  1853,  he  was  called  on  an  urgent  engagement  to 
St. Louis,  and  through  the  exposure  of  that  journey,  then  partly 
made  by  stage-coaches,  and  from  general  overwork,  he  had  a  slight 
attack  of  paralysis,  and  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends 
and  relatives,  he  retired  from  all  mercantile  pursuits.  From  this 
time,  he  devoted  his  time  and  energies  to  the  management  of 
his  large  estate  and  to  the  various  enterprises  in  which  he  was 
engaged.  He  established  a  large  flour- mill  and  iron -works  on 
the  Etowah  River  near  Cartersville,  Ga.,  and  became  interested 
with  others  in  various  railroad  companies,  and  these,  together 
with  his  plantation  interests,  occupied  his  time.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  corporators  and  directors  of  the  Illinois-Central  Rail- 
road Company  from  185 1-64.  He  was  also  a  director  and  largely 
interested  in  the  Great-Western  Railroad  Company  of  Illinois,  after- 
ward the  Toledo,-Wabash-and-Western  Railroad  Company.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  influenced  by  education,  association, 
and  sentiment,  he  removed  South  to  protect  his  interests  and  to 
cast  his  lot  with  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  remained  quietly  at 
his  plantation  near  Eufaula,  Ala.,  which  henceforth  became  his 
home.  During  his  absence  South,  his  seat  in  the  board  was 
declared  vacant,  May  19,  1864,  on  account  of  absenteeism.  After 
the  restoration  of  peace,  he  returned  to  New  York,  resumed  his 
old  quarters  at  the  Astor  House,  and  engaged  again  in  the  various 
railroad  enterprises  in  which  he  was  interested.  The  board  of 
directors  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  out  of  respect 
to  Mr.  Wiley  and  in  recognition  of  his  valuable  services  to 
the  company  during  its  early  organization,  again  elected  him  a 
director,  May  29,  1867,  which  office  he  held  until  the  time  of  his 
death. 


ROBERT   RANTOUL,   JR.  2f 

Mr.  Wiley  was  a  man  of  fine  physique  and  indomitable  energy 
and  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  He  was  scrupulously  honor- 
able and  just  in  all  his  transactions,  never  seemed  to  know  what 
fatigue  was,  and  his  invincible  will  power  was  felt  among  his 
subordinates  in  all  the  ramifications  of  his  extensive  business.  In 
society,  he  was  courteous  and  polite,  and  among  his  relatives,  he 
was  exceedingly  kind  and  generous.  His  three  sisters  were  all 
left  widows  with  large  families  of  children,  and  two  of  them  with- 
out means.  The  families  of  these  two  he  supported,  and  educated 
their  children,  and  all  of  his  nieces  he  educated,  giving  them  the 
very  best  advantages  the  country  afforded.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  he  had  by  his  own  exertions  and  without  entering 
into  any  speculations,  accumulated  a  fortune  estimated  at  two 
millions  of  dollars,  at  a  time  when  millionaires  were  not  so  plenti- 
ful as  they  now  are.  During  that  unfortunate  struggle,  much  of 
his  property  was  greatly  depreciated  in  value,  and  this,  together 
with  the  effects  of  emancipation,  swept  away  one-half  of  his 
estate,  which,  when  he  died,  was  valued  to  be  about  one 
million  of  dollars.  Having  never  married,  he  gave  his  entire 
property  to  his  three  sisters  and  the  children  of  his  deceased 
brothers.  In  January,  1868,  Mr.  Wiley,  while  on  his  journey  from 
Georgia  to  New  York,  was  again  attacked  by  disease  of  the 
brain,  and  his  friends,  finding  him  in  this  condition,  removed  him 
to  the  home  of  Mr.  Gresham,  who  had  married  his  niece,  in  Macon, 
Ga.  But  he  did  not  improve,  and  was  carried  to  Welanee — the 
name  he  gave  to  his  beautiful  home  in  Alabama — and  there,  under 
the  tender  care  of  his  sisters  and  nieces,  he  quietly  passed  away, 
April  16,  1868,  and  his  body  lies  at  rest  in  Macon  by  the  side  of 
his  mother. 

Robert  Rantoul,  jr.  was  an  American  statesman,  born  in 
Beverly,  Mass.,  August  13,  1805.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1826  and  was  admitted  to  the  Essex  bar  in  1827.  In 
1837,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  board  of 
education.  In  1838,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  in  1843  was 
appointed  by  President  Tyler  collector  of  that  port,  and  in  1845, 
United-States  district-attorney  for  Massachusetts.   Hiram  Ketchum 


28  FIRST   DRAFT   OF   CHARTER. 

—  a  celebrated  lawyer  of  New  York  and  an  intimate  personal 
friend  of  Daniel  Webster,  suggested  the  latter's  name  as  a  fit 
person  to  draft  the  charter  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad,  but 
Webster  could  not  give  it  attention  and  named  Rantoul,  who 
did  most  of  the  work  at  his  Boston  office.  Hon.  George  White, 
now  judge  of  probate  for  Suffolk  County,  was  then  a  student  in 
Rantoul's  office,  and  copied  out  the  first  draft  in  his  handwriting. 
Probably  Ketchum  aided  Rantoul  in  formulating  the  charter; 
there  were,  however,  radical  changes  made  in  it  before  its  final 
passage,  which  Mr.  Rantoul  personally  superintended  in  Spring- 
field. By  a  coincidence,  while  thus  engaged,  he  was  elected  by  the 
Massachusetts  legislature  to  serve  out  Daniel  Webster's  term  in 
the  United-States  senate,  which  had  been  temporarily  filled  by 
Robert  C.  Winthrop  under  an  appointment  of  the  governor,  enter- 
ing the  senate,  Feb.  22,  185 1,  twelve  days  after  the  Illinois-Cen- 
tral Railway  charter  was  passed.  After  Mr.  Rantoul's  services  of  a 
few  weeks  in  the  senate,  he  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Sumner  for 
the  long  term.  He  was  elected  to  the  house  of  representatives 
the  same  year,  1851,  for  the  first  time,  and  died  before  his  term 
expired,  Aug.  7,  1852. 

Said  his  historian:  "Of  the  great  men  who  in  1852  were  sum- 
moned to  "put  on  immortality,"  Robert  Rantoul,  jr.,  in  all  the 
elements  of  moral  worth,  intellectual  activity,  practical  usefulness, 
and  beneficence  to  mankind,  was  one  of  the  greatest.  His  life 
was  a  scene  of  incessant  labor  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  justice, 
and  humanity.  Of  every  subject  to  which  he  directed  his  atten- 
tion gaining  with  unparalleled  facility  a  profound  knowledge,  a 
thorough  mastery,  he  devoted  his  acquirements  with  an  honest 
and  inflexible  purpose  to  advance  the  welfare  of  society;  yet  he 
sounded  no  trumpet  before  him.  His  manners  were  gentle, 
quiet,  and  unostentatious.  *  *  Few  men  have  been  called 
from  the  scenes  of  American  civil  life  whose  death  caused  more 
unaffected  sorrow  and  tender  grief." 

One  of  the  laudable  acts  of  his  life  was  the  effort  he  made 
for  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment  and  his  report  is  still 
one  of  the  standard  authorities  on  the  subject.  In  politics, 
Mr.  Rantoul  was  a  democrat  and  an  earnest  advocate  of  free- 
trade. 


VALUE   OF   ILLINOIS   LANDS.  29 

At  the  time  application  was  made  to  the  legislature  of  Illinois 
for  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  charter,  there  were  certain  West- 
ern capitalists  who  desired  to  secure  it,  as  they  did  not  wish  the 
project  to  go  to  Eastern  capitalists.  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
employed  on  their  behalf  but  he  was  unsuccessful.  When  in 
1863,  Rantoul's  son — the  present  mayor  of  Salem,  Mass. —was 
introduced  to  President  Lincoln  at  the  White  House,  the  latter 
referred  to  this  fact  and  acknowledged  he  did  all  he  could  to 
stop  it,  but  added  with  a  laugh  and  slapping  his  lank  thighs, 
"Your  father  beat  me,  he  beat  me!" 

Rantoul  was  the  author  of  an  interesting  pamphlet  entitled :   iy^ 
"Letter  on  the  value~oT~fhe  public  lands  oPHhTrors"*^ which  he 
wrote  in  1850.     It  was  an  inquiry  as  to  the  prospective  value  of 
lands  in  Illinois  and  an  examination  of  the  considerations  Which 
would  probably  influence  the  settlement  of  the  State.     In  this \ 
pamphlet,  he. compared  the  lands  of  our  State  with  those  of  the    J 
older  states  and  showed  how  the  latter  had  been  affected  in  value  / 
by  railway  construction.      The  pamphlet    teems  with   valuable 
statistical  information,  and  we  quote  extensively  from  it.     At  that 
time,  1850,  it  appears  that  the  unsold  lands  in  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois,  were  as  follows  : 

Ohio,  containing  25,576,960  acres,  had  unsold  367,742 
Illinois,  n         35,459,200       11  11  11   11,449,471 

Indiana,        11         21,637,760       n  m  "      1,511,266 

He  estimated  that  the  eleven  million  acres  of  land  not  taken  up 
in  Illinois  would  supply  a  population  of  little  more  than  four 
hundred  thousand  persons  with  twenty-eight  acres  each,  and  pre- 
dicted that  this  increase  at  the  ordinary  rate  would  occur  in  six 
or  seven  years,  and  that  if  the  rate  of  increase  should  not  be 
checked,  five  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  persons  would  be 
added  to  the  population  in  eight  years,  and  nine  hundred  and 
five  thousand  in  twelve  years,  this  at  the  ordinary  rate.  He  then 
went  on  to  show  what,  in  his  belief,  would  be  the  effect  of  the 
settlement  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  lands,  and  estimated 
the  following  increases  in  population  by  land  districts : 


30       DEBT   OF   ILLINOIS — EFFECT   ON   IMMIGRATION. 

DISTRICT  KATE  OF    INCREASE      I'OI'ULAT'n,    i86» 

Quincy  and  Chicago,       -  -  66^3  per  cent,  525,225 

Dixon,  Danville,  and  Vandalia,         240         u         640,009 
Other  five,      -  -  -  80         n         633,620 

1,798,854 
His  prophecy  was  completely  fulfilled.     The  population  of  our 
State  in  1850  was  851,470  and  in  ten  years,  i860,  it  had  reached 

Referring  to  the  debt  of  Illinois  and  its  effect  upon  emigration 
to  that  State,  he  says : 

"  During  the  last  ten  years,  Illinois  has  labored  under  a  debt  of 
a  magnitude  absolutely  overwhelming,  when  compared  with  her 
resources  at  the  commencement  of  that  period.  She  had  then 
before  her  a  very  gloomy  alternative.  If  she  endeavored  to  meet 
even  the  interest  of  her  obligations,  she  would  be  crushed  under 
the  weight  of  an  intolerable  taxation,  from  which  her  most  able 
and  enterprising  citizens  would  have  fled  into  other  states.  If 
she  abandoned  the  effort  in  despair  of  the  possibility  of  success, 
then  she  must  suffer  all  the  consequences  of  the  total  loss  of 
credit  consequent  on  her  bankruptcy.  In  neither  case,  did  it 
seem  to  be  probable  that  her  public-works  could  be  made  avail- 
able toward  the  discharge  of  the  debt  incurred  for  them  or  aid  to 
develop  the  resources  of  the  State.  Why  should  an  emigrant 
from  the  old  world,  or  from  the  states,  with  the  broad  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  open  before  him  where  to  choose,  voluntarily 
assume  a  full  share  of  these  embarrassments  by  becoming  a 
citizen  of  Illinois?  The  answer  which  the  emigrants  have  given 
to  this  question  may  be  seen  in  the  settlement  of  Wisconsin, 
which  state,  with  a  colder  climate  and  harder  soil  than  Illinois^ 
has  added  to  her  population  more  than  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
per  cent  in  the  last  ten  years — a  progress  unprecedented  in  the 
history  of  the  world  in  any  agricultural  community. 

"Ten  years  ago,  Illinois,  borne  down  with  debt,  had  not  only 
not  a  mile  of  railroad,  or  canal,  or  plank  road,  in  operation  within 
her  borders,  but  no  reasonable  plan  had  been  agreed  upon  by 
which  she  could  hope  to  diminish  her  debt,  discharge  her  interest, 
or  acquire  facilities  of  communication.     She  has  now  her  canal 


EFFECT   OF   RAILWAYS   ON    POPULATION.  3 1 

debt  rapidly  approaching  toward  extinction,  revenues  sufficient 
in  a  very  short  time  to  discharge  her  whole  interest  without 
increasing  the  rate  of  taxation,  one  hundred  miles  of  canal,  and 
a  still  greater  length  of  railroad  in  highly  profitable  operation, 
with  plank  roads  in  great  numbers  paying  dividends  large  enough 
to  insure  the  early  construction  of  several  thousand  miles  more. 
Not  only  so  but  she  has  before  her  the  certainty  that  she  will  be 
supplied  with  more  than  twelve  hundred,  perhaps  it  may  be  safely 
said,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  railroad  in  the  next  five 
or  six  years;  and  channels  are  already  constructed  to  convey 
her  products,  transported  to  her  borders  on  these  railroads, 
through  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  the  Eastern  states,  to  the  sea- 
board and  abroad.  If,  paralyzed  as  she  was  for  the  last  ten  years, 
her  growth  was  at  about  the  same  rate  as  that  of  Michigan,  hav-. 
ing  less  than  half  as  dense  a  population,  with  her  railroads  and 
her  lake  borders  and  her  steamboats;  about  the  same  as  that  of 
Missouri  with  only  two-thirds  as  dense  a  population,  and  with  the 
Queen  City  of  the  Great  River  in  her  centre  receiving  the  whole 
current  of  emigration  up  the  Mississippi;  about  the  same  numeri- 
cally as  that  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  together,  these  two  starting 
with  a  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  land  unoccupied,  wholly 
unencumbered  with  debt  and  accessible  from  the  lake  and  from 
the  river — why  should  she  not,  in  her  present  healthy  condition, 
her  limbs  unshackled  and  her  pathway  free  before  her,  advance, 
with  the  step  of  a  giant  refreshed,  toward  her  natural  position 
among  the  first  in  population,  power,  and  wealth  of  the  North 
American  confederacy  of  states?  *  *  But,  it  may  be  asked, 
will  not  a  larger  portion  of  the  additional  population  coming  into 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  diverge  into  the  new  states  and  so 
be  drawn  off  from  Illinois? 

"Certainly  not  to  the  inaccessible  portions  of  those  states — 
because  a  bushel  of  corn  costing  six  cents  which  can  be  carried 
for  thirty  cents  to  a  market  where  it  will  sell  for  thirty-six  cents, 
is  not  worth  so  much  as  a  bushel  of  corn  costing  twenty  cents 
which  can  be  carried  for  ten  cents  to  the  same  market  and  sold 
for  the  same  price  of  thirty-six  cents.  A  saving  of  twenty  cents 
per  bushel  on  the  transportation  of  your  corn  is  the  saving  of  ten 


32  ILLINOIS   GRAIN    SHIPMENTS. 

dollars  on  the  crop  of  an  acre  reckoned  at  fifty  bushels;  and  this 
sum  is  twenty  per  cent  interest  on  a  first  cost  of  fifty  dollars  per 
acre.  It  will  be  better  economy,  therefore,  taking  the  article  of 
corn  as  a  criterion,  to  buy  land  in  the  south  part  of  the  Danville 
district  at  fifty  dollars  per  acre,  when  the  prices  by  competition 
for  it  shall  have  been  raised  so  high,  and  you  have  a  double-track 
railroad  within  twelve  miles  of  your  farm,  than  it  would  have  been 
to  buy  the  same  land  at  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre  when 
there  was  no  practicable  outlet  for  your  produce. 

"Corn  was  carried  during  the  summer  from  a  point  several 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  down  to  the  Illinois, 
thence  up  that  river  to  the  canal,  thence  to  Chicago,  and  thence 
to  New  York,  and  there  sold  at  a  profit.  Corn  was  not  low  in 
Illinois  last  summer,  but  in  New  York  it  was  considerably  lower 
than  the  average  of  the  last  four  years.  Corn  will  go  to  market 
cheaper  from  the  lands  in  the  Danville  district  on  the  line  of  the 
Chicago  branch  of  the  Central  Road  than  from  the  point  of 
shipment  on  the  Mississippi  first  referred  to.  Corn  is  so  cheap 
and  bulky  that  all  other  agricultural  produce  may  be  carried  much 
further  on  the  railroad  without  too  great  an  addition  to  its  price. 
All  produce  for  which  a  market  can  be  found  at  the  seaboard  will 
bear  the  cost  of  transportation  from  Illinois. 

"Nor  need  we  be  alarmed  at  the  vast  amounts  of  produce 
which  these  unsettled  tracts  are  capable  of  yielding.  The  North- 
west never  received  so  great  an  accession  to  its  population  in  any 
equal  period  as  in  the  last  five  years ;  the  emigration  from  foreign 
countries,  most  of  which  passes  to  the  Northwest,  having  risen 
to  299,610  in  1849,  and  to  315,333  in  1850,  instead  of  less  than 
50,000  a  year  as  it  was  formerly.  Yet  with  this  unparalleled 
increase  of  laborers  cultivating  the  richest  soil  of  the  world,  with 
the  new  avenues  to  market  that  have  been  opened  during  that 
time,  all  pouring  to  the  seaboard  the  surplus  of  a  succession  of 
bountiful  harvests  in  quantities  unheard  of  before,  and  at  much 
lower  freights  than  before,  the  supply  has  not  kept  pace  with  the 
demand  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  agricultural  products,  almost 
Avithout  exception,  have  borne  much  higher  prices  during  the  last 
four  years  than  during  the  four  next  preceding.     The  following 


FARM -PRODUCT    PRICES    1 843 -6.  33 

are  the  average  prices  of  the  whole  quantities  of  some  of  the 
principal  articles  exported  from  the  United  States  during  the  two 
periods : 

Flour,   1843-4-5-6,     $4.79  1847-8-9-50,     $5.77 

Wheat,      11         11  -9&H  "         "  1-29}^ 

Corn,         11         11  .55  11         11  -7i/4 

"The  prices  of  pork  and  other  animal  products  differ  also  in 
about  the  same  proportion.  The  difference  extends  also  to 
southern  products,  so  that  labor  will  not  be  diverted  at  the  South 
from  their  peculiar  staples,  to  wheat,  corn,  pofk,  and  the  articles 
which  now  employ  Northwestern  labor.  The  prices  were: 
Cotton,  1843-4-5-6,  $  .068728  1847-8-9-50,  $  .08417 
Rice,  11         11       17.66  n         11  22.24 

Tobacco,    11         11       52.15  11         11  59-47 

"Stimulated  by  this  rise  of  prices,  the  exports  of  the  last  four 
years  exceeded  those  of  the  four  years  previous  in  vegetable  food 
and  the  products  of  animals  alone  by  about  one  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  in  the  total : 

The  animal  products,  exported  from  1843-46  inclusive,  were 

valued  at         -----  $24,153,331 

And  the  vegetable  food  at  -  -         47,335,438 

Making  an  aggregate  of        $71,488,769 

"But,  during  the  period  from  1847-50  inclusive,  the  exports  of 

animal  products  were  about  doubled  and  amounted  to  $47,354,655 

The  vegetable  food  was  more  than  doubled,  being  123,720,738 

Total     $171,075,393 
Subtract  amount  for  previous  four  years,  -         71,488,769 

$99,586,624 
"The  demand  for  Northwestern  products  for  exportation  is, 
however,  far  from  being  the  only  dependence  of  the  producer. 
The  home  demand  increases  and  must  continue  to  increase  in  a 
ratio  even  greater  than  the  foreign  demand.  As  the  country 
grows  richer,  a  larger  proportion  of  its  population  is  withdrawn 
from  agricultural  pursuits  to  be  employed  in  manufactures  and 
mining,  and  in  the  management  of  internal  exchanges  and  trans- 
portation, and  foreign  navigation  and  commerce.  All  these 
3 


34  COAL  AND   IRON    PRODUCTIONS. 

persons  ceasing  to  grow  their  own  food  and  consuming  freely, 
since,  taken  as  a  whole,  they  have  ample  means  to  purchase, 
create  a  continually  expanding  demand,  which  for  the  last  five 
years  at  least,  has  not  been  overtaken  by  the  supply.  This  prog- 
ress in  this  country  is  far  beyond  that  of  any  other  part  of  the 
world  in  the  rapidity  with  which  it  proceeds.  This  communica- 
tion would  extend  to  too  great  a  length  if  I  should  collect  all  the 
elements  which  would  be  necessary  to  judge  accurately  how  fast 
this  change  goes  on.  But  for  the  present  purpose  and  with  a 
view  to  contrast  the  multitudes  of  men  devoted  now  to  other  than 
agricultural  pursuits  with  the  small  numbers  of  a  time  not  far  dis- 
tant, let  us  compare  a  few  particulars  of  the  years  1830  and  1850. 

"In  the  year  1830,  the  anthracite  coal  sent  to  market  from  the 
mines  of  Pennsylvania  was  less  than  175,000  tons.  In  1850,  it 
was  about  twenty  times  that  amount.  In  1830,  the  iron  produced 
in  the  United  States  was  about  165,000  tons  or  about  as  much  as 
Great  Britain  produced  in  1800.  In  1850,  the  United  States 
produced  about  four  times  as  much  as  in  1 830  or  about  the  same 
quantity  that  Great  Britain  produced  in  1830.  The  cotton  man- 
ufacturers in  the  United  States  consumed  in  1830,  45,000,000  of 
pounds  of  raw  material;  in  1850,  270,000,000  of  pounds  or  six 
times  as  great  a  quantity. 

"The  instruments  of  transportation  compare  as  follows,  after 
an  interval  of  twenty  years  only : 

Miles  of  canal  in  operation, 

Miles  of  railroad  in  operation, 

Miles  of  railroad  in  construction,    - 

Tons  of  shipping, 

Tons  of  shipping  built  in  the  year, 

Number  of  steamers  built  in  last  five  years, 

"The  imports  of  the  year  1830  were  $70,876,920,  but  in  1850 
they  had  risen  to  $178,138,318.  This  increased  purchase  of 
course  took  off  increased  quantities  of  products  to  pay  for  it. 
The  imports  in  the  four  years  ending  with  1830  were  $313,363,- 
339;  for  the  four  years  ending  with  1850,  they  were  $627,519,323, 
while  the  exports  for  four  years  ending  in  1830  were  $300,797,692, 
and  for  the  four  years  ending  in  1850,  they  were  $610,339,598. 


1830 

1850 

1,277 

3,698 

73 

8,779 

-  338 

11,000 

1,191,776 

3,535,454 

58,094 

272,218 

rs,    196 

965 

INCREASE   IN    IMPORTS   AND   EXPORTS.  35 

The  imports  having  doubled  in  twenty  years,  the  exports  have 
doubled  also.  Has  the  whole  demand,  both  domestic  and  foreign 
taken  together,  been  sufficient  to  keep  up  the  prices  of  the  surplus 
products  of  the  Northwest,  as  compared  with  the  prices  of  manu- 
factured and  imported  articles  which  the  farmer  purchases  with 
the  disposable  portion  of  his  crop?  The  answer  to  this  question 
determines  whether  the  inducements  to  settle  in  the  Northwest 
are  gaining  strength ;  for  it  is  the  amount  which  his  surplus  will 
purchase  that  determines  the  question  whether  the  farmer  7oill  gron' 
rich  or  poor. 

"If  we  compare  the  four  years  with  the  four  preceding,  we 
shall  find:  i.  That  goods  manufactured  in  the  Eastern  States 
have  become  much  cheaper.  2.  That  imported  articles  have 
grown  cheaper.  3.  That  agricultural  products  command  much 
higher  prices  than  before.*  4.  That  the  cost  of  transporting 
agricultural  produce  from  the  West  to  the  seaboard,  and  manu- 
factured and  imported  articles  from  the  seaboard  to  the  West  has 
been  materially  diminished  and  is  likely  to  be  still  more  so. 

"Each  of  these  four  changes  is  of  vast  importance  to  the  settlers 
on  public  lands,  and  their  combined  influence  has  caused  wealth 
to  pouf  in  like  a  flood  into  those  sections  of  the  Northwest  having 
convenient  access  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  Of  the  effect  of 
this  tribute  of  wealth  upon  the  accumulations  of  those  communi- 
ties who  receive  it,  I  give  as  an  instance,  that  the  wealth  of  the 
thirteen  northern  counties  of  Illinois  was  six  times  as  great  in 
1 849  as  it  has  been  nine  years  before  in  1 840,  as  follows : 

Population  and  valuation  of  the  thirteen  counties  on  the  line 
of  the  Chicago-and-Galena  Railroad  in  1840  and  1849: 

*  True  at  the  time  he  wrote  but  since  then  greatly  changed.  At  this  time 
no  industry  is  suffering  such  depression  as  that  of  agriculture.  A  report 
of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  of  Illinois  for  the  year  1889  shows  that 
the  total  value  of  the  corn  crop  for  1889  in  Illinois  was  $58,337,049,  and 
that  the  total  cost  of  production  of  the  same  was  $68,272,872,  making  a 
total  loss  to  the  farmers  of  Illinois  for  the  year  1889  of  $9,935,823.  There 
would  appear  to  be  something  wrong  in  the  reciprocal  relations  of  a  country 
when  for  the  past  twenty  years  those  of  its  people  who  produce  the  real 
wealth  of  the  country  have  been  gradually  getting  poorer,  and  have  been 
compelled  to  use  a  necessary  article  of  food  (corn)  for  fuel.  And  yet  this, 
has  been  done  for  many  years  throughout  the  corn-belt  of  Illinois. 


2)6  POPULATION  AND  VALUATION  OF  LAND. 


COUNTIES 

pop.  1840 

1850 

VAI..    1840 

VAL.   1849 

Jo  Davies, 

6,180 

18,767 

383,715 

2,785,225 

Stephenson, 

2,800 

11,666 

125,485 

837,685 

Winnebago, 

4,609 

",73' 

222,630 

1,564,617 

McHenry, 

2,578 

15,800 

88,930 

J, 545,277 

Lake, 

2,634 

M,i34 

95,385 

1,222,088 

DeKalb, 

1,697 

7,544 

66,945 

720,108 

Kane, 

6.551 

16,242 

289,565 

1,442,001 

DuPage, 

3,535 

9,290 

196,290 

943,503 

Cook, 

10,201 

43,280 

1,864,205 

7,617,102 

Boone, 

1,705 

7,627 

55,990 

717,292 

Kendall, 

new 

7,73o 

t    0  r\  c    ^  *■*  f\ 

x, 205, 739 

Carroll, 

1,023 

4,586 

65,345 

370,372 

Ogle, 

3,479 

10,020 

175,555 

971,230 

46,992  178,417  3,630,040  21,942,239 

Population  in  1840,  46,992.  Valuation,  $3,630,040;  per  head, 
$77.25. 

Population  in  1850,  178,417,  by  United-States  census. 

Deduct  15,000,  increase  1849  t0  J85o. 

Population  in  1849,  163,417.  Valuation,  $21,942,239;  per 
head,  $134.27." 

John  F.  A.  Sanford  was  an  incorporator  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company  and  one  of  its  directors  from  Feb.  10, 
1 85 1  to  March  18,  1857;  he  was  of  the  firm  of  Pierre  Chouteau, 
jr.  and  Company,  extensive  traders  in  furs  and  other  commodities 
with  the  far-northwest  country — they  had  warehouses  in  St.  Louis 
and  New  York.  Chouteau  was  also  a  director  of  the  company 
from  1857  to  i860.  He  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Jan.  19,  1789. 
He  was  of  French  extraction,  his  father  and  uncle,  Auguste,  were 
the  founders  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  gave  it  its  name ;  they  were 
both  born  in  New  Orleans.  Pierre  was  at  first  a  clerk  with  his 
father  and  uncle,  who  were  then  largely  engaged  in  the  fur  trade 
with  the  Indians,  but  soon  entered  into  business  for  himself. 
May  1,  1 813,  Berthold  and  Chouteau  opened  their  new  firm  in 
St.  Louis  with  a  general  stock  of  merchandise.  This  was  the 
origin  and  foundation  of  what  afterward,  by  the  addition  of  two 


CHOUTEAU — AMERICAN   FUR-COMPANY.  37 

new  partners — John  P.  Cabanne  and  Bernard  Pratte,  sr. — with 
their  added  capital,  became  the  great  and  wealthy  "American  Fur- 
Company"  to  trade  with  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  Upper  Missouri; 
and  which  for  many  years  almost  monopolized  the  fur  trade  of  the 
upper  country  and  acquired  large  wealth.  Following  the  Indians 
as  they  receded  from  point  to  point,  Chouteau  established  himself 
at  different  points  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  finally  at  Fort 
Benton,  Montana,  at  the  head  of  navigation  of  the  Missouri 
River.  In  1806,  he  visited  Dubuque  to  trade  with  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  ascending  and  descending  the  river  in  canoes.  He  also 
followed  the  Indians  as  they  receded  up  the  Osage  River,  and  up 
the  Mississippi  from  Keokuk  to  St.  Paul,  having  trading  posts  all 
along  the  rivers.  In  1834,  he  and  his  associates  purchased  the 
interest  of  John  Jacob  Astor  in  the  American  Fur-Company,  and 
in  1839,  they  formed  the  trading  company  which,  under  the  firm 
name  of  P.  Chouteau,  jr.  and  Company,  extended  its  operations 
southward  as  far  as  the  Cross  Timbers  in  Texas,  northward  to  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  northwestward  to  the  Blackfeet  Country ; 
monopolizing  the  fur  trade  of  the  entire  region  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  also  controlling  the  trade  of  Santa  Fe'  in  New 
Mexico.  This  business  necessitated  the  employment  of  a  large 
amount  of  capital,  and  large  transactions  in  the  Eastern  cities 
were  carried  on,  so  that  Chouteau  was  finally  obliged  to  take  up 
his  residence  in  New  York ;  but  he  afterward  returned  to  St.  Louis. 
In  1808,  acting  under  the  instructions  of  Gov.  Lewis,  he  con- 
cluded an  important  treaty  with  the  Osages  fixing  the  boundary 
between  them  and  the  whites.  In  18 19,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  which  framed  the  first  constitution  for  the  State  of 
Missouri,  but  with  this  exception,  he  never  engaged  in  politics. 
Both  Chouteau  and  Sanford  were  exceedingly  just  in  their  dealings 
with  the  Indians,  and  by  this  means  gained  their  confidence  and 
were  enabled  to  carry  on.  their  trading  with  them  amicably,  and 
through  these  transactions  amassed  a  large  fortune.  Chouteau 
died  in  St.  Louis  on  Sept.  8,  1865.  Fort  Pierre,  1300  miles 
above  St.  Louis  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  was  named  in 
compliment  to  Pierre  Chouteau. 

Owing  to  his  generous  treatment  of  the  Indians  and  the  great 


38  JOHN   F.   A.   SANFORD. 

confidence  placed  in  him  by  them,  Sanford  was  appointed  by  the 
United-States  government  Indian-agent  for  the  Mandans,  Ricka- 
rees,  Minatarees,  Crows,  Knisteneaux,  Assineboins,  and  Blackfeet 
tribes,  and  made  frequent  trips  up  the  Missouri  and  went  among 
the  Indian  tribes,  and  his  very  presence  among  these  hostile 
people  always  restored  confidence  and  courage.  The  speech  of 
Ha-wan-je-tah — the  one  horn,  a  Sioux  chief,*  will  serve  to  show 
the  estimation  in  which  Major  Sanford  was  held  by  them: 

"My  father,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here  today:  my  heart  is  always 
glad  to  see  my  father  when  he  comes — our  Great  Father  who  sends 
him  here  is  very  rich  and  we  are  poor.  Our  friend  who  is  on 
your  right  hand — meaning  Pierre  Chouteau — we  all  know  is  very 
rich  and  we  have  heard  that  he  owns  the  great  medicine -canoe. 
He  is  a  good  man  and  a  friend  to  the  red  man.  My  father,  I 
hope  you  will  have  pity  on  us,  we  are  very  poor."  After  these 
words,  he  took  off  his  beautiful  war-eagle  head  dress,  his  shirt  and 
leggings,  his  necklace  of  grizzly  bear's  claws,  and  his  moccasins, 
and  tying  them  together,  laid  them  gracefully  down  at  the  feet  of 
Major  Sanford  as  a  present.  Major  Sanford  made  a  short  speech 
in  reply,  thanking  him  for  the  valuable  present  which  he  had 
made  him,  and  for  the  very  polite  and  impressive  manner  in  which 
it  had  been  done,  and  sent  to  the  steamer  for  a  quantity  of  tobacco 
and  other  presents  which  were  given  to  him  in  return. 

He  frequently  visited  Washington  with  representatives  of  these 
different  tribes;  an  amusing  and  interesting  story  is  told  also  by 
Catlin  of  a  young  Assineboin,  Wi-jun-jon — the  pigeon's  egg  head, 
who  was  selected  by  Maj.  Sanford  to  represent  his  tribe  in  a  dele- 
gation which  visited  Washington  City  under  his  charge  in  the  win- 
ter of  1832.  With  Maj.  Sanford  the  Assineboin,  together  with  repre- 
sentatives of  several  others  of  those  Northwestern  tribes  descended 
the  Missouri  River  on  their  way  to  Washington  in  a  Mackinac 
boat  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  Stone.  Wi-jun-jon  and 
another  of  his  tribe,  at  the  first  approach  to  the  civilized  settle- 
ments, commenced  a  register  of  the  white  men's  houses  or  cabins 
by  cutting  a  notch  for  each  on  the  side  of  a  pipe  stem,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  show  when  they  got  home  how  many  white  men's 

*  "Catlin's  North  American  Indians,"  Vol.  I,  page  228. 


VISIT   OF   CATLIN   TO   THE   INDIAN   TRIBES.  39 

houses  they  saw  on  the  journey:  as  the  cabins  increased  in  num- 
bers, they  soon  found  their  pipe  stem  filled  with  marks,  and  they 
determined  to  put  the  rest  of  them  on  the  handle  of  a  war-club 
which  was  soon  marked  all  over  likewise.  At  length  while  the 
boat  was  moored  at  the  shore,  Wi-jun-jon  and  his  companion 
stepped  into  the  bushes  and  cut  a  long  stick  upon  which  they 
afterward  attempted  to  copy  the  notches  from  the  pipe -stem 
and  club,  but  the  cabins  increased  so  in  number  that  they, 
after  consulting  a  little,  pitched  their  sticks  overboard.  Wi-jun- 
jon  was  absent  a  year  on  his  trip  to  Washington  and  when  he 
returned  to  his  tribe  with  Major  Sanford,  he  was  decked  in  a  full 
suit  of  colonel's  uniform  which  had  been  presented  to  him  in 
Washington.  He  wore  with  it  a  beaver  hat  and  a  blue  umbrella. 
Catlin  frequently  accompanied  Major  Sanford  in  his  visits  to  the 
different  Indian  tribes  and  in  this  way  procured  the  interesting 
views  and  portraits  with  which  his  works  are  illustrated;  and  to 
the  correctness  of  which  Major  Sanford  certifies.  It  took  about 
three  months  for  a  steamboat  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow 
Stone  from  St.  Louis.  The  steamer,  Yellow  Stone,  on  her  first 
trip  up  the  Missouri,  had  Catlin  and  Sanford  on  board.  As  she 
approached  the  Mandan  village,  she  fired  a  salute  of  twenty  guns, 
which  caused  great  alarm  among  the  Indians.  When  they  stepped 
aboard,  they  met,  to  their  great  surprise  and  delight,  their  old 
friend  Major  Sanford,  their  agent,  and  this  put  an  end  to  all  their 
fears.  Mr.  Sanford  married  Miss  Emilie,  the  daughter  of  Chouteau. 
He  was  a  genial  gentleman  of  polished  and  graceful  manners, 
and  of  fearless  nature,  which  manifested  itself  either  when  driving 
a  spirited  horse  or  facing  an  hostile  savage.  The  cares  and 
anxieties  of  the  immense  business  transacted  by  his  firm,  but 
largely  devolving  upon  him,  weighed  heavily  upon  his  mind,  and 
at  last  it  succumbed  to  the  strain.  He  died  in  New  York  in 
1857,  much  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  were  brought 
into  commercial  or  social  relations  with  him. 

Gouverneur  Morris  of  Morrisania,  was  the  only  child  of 
Gouverneur  Morris  and  Anne  Cary  Randolph,  and  was  born  at 
Morrisania,  New  York,  on  February  9,  1813. 


40  GOUVERNEUR   MORRIS. 

The  earliest  record  of  the  Morris  family  in  America  dates  from 
about  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  1660,  when  Colonel  Lewis- 
Morris,  having  played  a  bold  and  daring  part  in  opposition  to 
King  Charles,  being  then  in  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  and  think- 
ing it  imprudent  to  return  to  England,  directed  his  thoughts  and 
aspirations  toward  America.  Accordingly,  he  sent  his  brother 
Richard  to  New  York  empowered  to  purchase  large  tracts  of 
land,  "they  both  being  in  affluent  circumstances."  Whilst  Richard 
was  living  in  New  York,  a  son  was  born  to  him,  in  1672,  and 
called  Lewis,  after  his  uncle.  "Six  months  after  this  child's  birth" 
— so  runs  the  old  record — "the  father,  Richard,  died,  and  in  a 
few  weeks  the  mother  also  died,  and  this  child,  the  sole  one  of 
the  family  and  name  at  that  period  in  this  country,  was  left  at 
nurse  among  strangers  at  Harlem."  Such  part  of  young  Lewis' 
papers  and  other  property  as  had  escaped  the  pillage  of  servants 
and  soldiers  was  placed  by  the  Dutch — then  in  possession  of 
New  York  —  under  the  care  and  management  of  some  of  the 
principal  inhabitants,  and  a  guardian  was  appointed  for  the  infant. 
When  New  York  was  restored  to  the  British  in  1674,  Lewis 
Morris,  sr.,  came  from  Barbadoes,  took  charge  of  his  nephew,  and 
settled  upon  his  lands  in  New  Jersey,  improving  at  the  same  time 
his  estate  in  Westchester  Co.,  which  by  the  royal  patent  of  1676 
was  called  the  lordship  or  manor  of  Morrisania.  Before  leaving 
Barbadoes,  Lewis  Morris,  sr.  had  unfortunately  married  a  wQman 
of  low  extraction  and  bad  conduct  whom  he  brought  with  him  to 
America.  During  Morris'  last  illness,  this  woman  destroyed  all 
the  family-papers  she  could  lay  her  hands  on,  and  so  remodelled 
his  will  as  to  leave  herself  and  one  Bichley,  her  accomplice,  the 
whole  personal  estate  and  all  the  negroes  and  silver.  The  fraud, 
however,  was  so  evident  that  when  young  Lewis  came  of  age,  some 
years  after  his  uncle's  death,  the  legislature  gave  him  possession 
of  the  estate  as  his  uncle's  heir-at-law.  Lewis  Morris  married 
Isabella  Graham,  a  near  relative  of  the  Marquis  of  Montrose,  by 
whom  he  had  fifteen  children,  of  whom  five  daughters  and  two 
sons  survived  him.  At  different  times,  he  held  the  offices  of 
chief  justice  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  state  councillor  and 
acting  governor  in  1731  and  governor  of  New  Jersey  in  1738. 


LEWIS   MORRIS,   THE   SIGNER.  41 

In  a  quaint  old  family -record  kept  by  himself,  Lewis  Morris 
says:  "I  begin  the  year  the  25th  of  March.  I  was  born  at  Tin- 
tern  in  New  Jersey  in  1698,  Sept.  23,  and  I  was  married  by  Wm. 
Vesey  [the  first  rector  of  Trinity  Church]  on  March,  17,  1723, 
to  Mrs.  Sarah  Staats."  The  issue  of  this  marriage  was  three  sons 
and  one  daughter.  Lewis,  the  eldest  son,  was  "born  the  8th  day 
of  April,  1726."  He  was  afterward  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  American  Independence.  Sarah  Staats,  the  first 
wife  of  Lewis  Morris,  died  in  1731,  and  Morris  married  Nov. 
3,  1846,  "Mrs.  Sarah  Gouvemeur,"  and  the  issue  of  this  marriage 
was  four  daughters  and  one  son — Gouvemeur,  who  was  born  on 
January  30,  1752,  and  who  played  so  distinguished  a  part  in  the 
struggle  for  American  freedom  and  in  the  formation  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  who,  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  revolution  in 
France,  stoutly  maintained  the  integrity  of  his  government  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  duties  as  accredited  minister  to  the  French 
court.  In  the  autumn  of  1798,  Gouvemeur  Morris  returned  to 
America  after  an  absence  of  ten  years,  and  rebuilt  the  house  at 
Morrisania  in  which  he  had  been  born,  and,  which  having  been 
within  the  enemy's  lines  during  the  revolution,  had  seen  so  many 
stormy  days.  In  1809,  Gouvemeur  Morris  married  Miss  Anne 
Cary  Randolph,  the  daughter  of  Thos.  Mann  Randolph,  Esquire, 
of  Tuckahoe,  Virginia,  and  in  18 16,  Morris  died,  leaving  to  her 
the  care  of  his  son  and  also  of  his  estates,  in  which  she  was  to 
have  a  life -interest. 

Morrisania  was  far  removed  during  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury from  the  busy  parts  of  New- York  city,  and  communication 
was  only  easy  by  means  of  the  family  carriage.  Occasional  trips 
into  town  and  rare  journeys  not  comfortable  and  often  dangerous 
through  New- York  state  to  Jefferson  County  to  inspect  lands — 
called  the  "Morris  tract,"  lying  along  the  St.  Lawrence  River — 
seem  to  have  been  the  principal  breaks  in  the  life  of  young 
Gouvemeur,  who  with  only  the  companionship  of  his  mother,  and 
occupied  by  the  various  interests  connected  with  his  farm,  grew 
to  man's  estate.  On  May  28,  1837,  Mrs.  Morris  died  and  Morris 
became  possessed  of  his  father's  estates  and  responsibilities. 
After  Mrs.  Morris'  death,  the  house  at  Morrisania  was  closed  for 


42  HARLEM    RAILROAD   EXTENSION. 

some  years  and  during  this  period  Morris  mingled  somewhat  in 
the  society  of  New  York  and  among  his  numerous  kinsfolk. 

The  extensive  field  for  men  of  intelligence  and  enterprise 
which  was  opened  by  the  projecting  and  building  of  railways, 
early  attracted  Morris'  attention;  he  foresaw  the  great  effect  they 
would  have  in  helping  to  build  up  and  develop  the  varied  interests 
of  the  whole  country,  and  therefore  devoted  himself  earnestly  to 
the  work.  His  first  effort  in  this  field  was  in  connection  with  the 
New-York-and-Harlem  Railroad.  The  company  had  by  herculean 
efforts  completed  the  road  in  1838  from  the  city  hall  to  Harlem, 
125th  street,  in  the  course  of  which  it  had  blasted  its  way  through 
many  deep  rock  cuttings,  and  had  performed  the  wonderful  feat, 
for  that  early  day,  of  driving  a  tunnel  of  several  hundred  feet  in 
length  through  the  rock  at  Yorkville  hill,  and  had  built  a  long 
and  high  viaduct  across  the  Harlem  flats  at  great  expense. 
The  road  was  made  a  double  track  and  had  cost  so  much  that 
the  company  found  its  finances  completely  exhausted  on  reaching 
this  point,  as  also  were  its  powers  to  proceed  further  under  its 
charter.  About  this  time,  1838,  another  company  was  chartered 
by  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  called  the  New-York- 
and-Albany  Railroad  Company,  empowered  to  build  a  road  from 
New  York  to  Albany.  Gouverneur  Morris  and  other  gentlemen 
interested  in  the  Harlem  road,  conceived  and  carried  out  the  idea 
of  purchasing  this  charter  and  consolidating  it  with  the  Harlem, 
which,  being  accomplished,  opened  the  way  for  extending  the 
Harlem  railroad  beyond  the  Harlem  River.  Railroads  were 
then  in  their  infancy  and  people  were  timid  about  investing 
money  in  them  so  that  it  seemed  probable  that  the  extension 
would  have  to  be  abandoned.  In  this  emergency,  Morris  came 
forward  and  personally  supplied  the  means  with  which  to  extend 
the  road  as  far  as  Williamsbridge  in  Westchester  County,  about 
seven  miles,  making  use  for  the  railway  of  the  bridge  built  for 
wagon  travel  across  the  Harlem  River  at  the  head  of  Fourth 
Avenue,  that  bridge  being  owned  by  Gouverneur  Morris  and  his 
cousins  Gerard  W.  Morris  and  William  H.  Morris.  Morris  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  completion  of  this  extension  and 
its  opening  for  business  in   1841.     From  this  time  forward  for 


ALBANY  EXTENSION  —  VERMONT  VALLEY  R.  R.   43 

■many  years,  he  acted  as  a  director  in  the  company,  taking  a  very 
■active  part  in  conducting  its  affairs,  and  at  one  time  held  the 
office  of  vice-president.  He  exerted  himself  in  having  the  road 
extended  from  time  to  time  until  it  reached  its  final  completion 
in  1852,  by  a  connection  with  the  Boston-and-Albany  Road  at 
Chatham  Four  Corners  in  Columbia  County,  New  York,  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  the  city.  The  last  fifty  miles  of 
the  road  from  Dover  Plains  to  Chatham  Corners  —  called  the 
"Albany  extension" — were  built  in  185 1-2  by  Morris  in  partner- 
ship with  George  L.  Schuyler  and  Sidney  G.  Miller  as  chief  con- 
tractors. Seeing  the  importance  to  the  Harlem  Railroad  of  hav- 
ing a  connection  with  deep  water  tide  at  its  southern  terminus, 
Morris  undertook  and  completed  in  1850  the  construction  of  the 
Port  Morris  branch  road  from  a  point  near  the  Melrose  station 
on  the  main  line  to  a  point  on  the  East  River  opposite  Flushing 
Bay,  including  the  building  of  ample  wharf  accommodations  for 
large  vessels.  This  road  was  built  upon  Morris'  own  lands  and 
with  money  supplied  entirely  by  himself.  He  was  one  of  the 
incorporators  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  and  a 
director  from  the  date  of  its  incorporation  to  August  4,  1854. 

In  1850,  with  George  Barker  and  others,  Morris  built  the 
Vermont-  Valley  Railroad,  twenty-two  miles  long,  from  Brattle - 
boro'  to  Bellows  Falls  on  the  Connecticut  River.  He  became  a 
director  in  the  company  and  subs2quently  was  chosen  president. 
His  career  as  a  railway  projector  and  builder  ended  when  he 
retired  from  the  presidency  of  the  Vermont -Valley  Road  about 
1879.  Morris,  in  1852,  commenced  to  build  the  Treverton-and- 
Susquehanna  Railroad  in  Pennsylvania.  This  road,  sixteen  miles 
long,  including  a  very  long  bridge  over  the  Susquehanna  River, 
was  a  most  difficult  work,  requiring  much  time  and  care  in  its 
execution.  It  was,  however,  very  satisfactorily  completed  in 
1855.  Associated  with  George  L.  Schuyler,  J.  S.  Stranahan, 
Josiah  W.  Baker,  Charles  G.  Case,  and  Sidney  G.  Miller,  Morris 
entered  into  contract  with  the  Albany-and-Susquehanna  Railroad 
Company  in  1853,  to  build  its  road  from  Albany  to  Binghamton 
in  Broome  County  on  the  Erie  Railway,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles.     The  work  was  commenced  soon  after  the 


44  BOSTON    PIERHEAD   TO   THE   PACIFIC. 

contract  was  signed,  and  the  grading  was  quite  far  advanced  when, 
in  1854,  a  difference  of  opinion  arising  between  the  company 
and  the  contractors,  work  was  stopped,  the  contractors  consider- 
ing themselves  justified  in  abandoning  it.  As  early  as  1839,  Morris 
became  persuaded  that  the  progress  of  railways  through  the 
country  could  not  be  arrested  by  the  timidity  of  persons  unwill- 
ing to  put  their  money  in  them,  and  to  a  number  of  gentlemen 
averse  to  subscribing  for  the  completion  of  the  New  York-and- 
Albany  Road,  he  plainly  stated  this  conviction.  "Gentlemen," 
said  he,  "it  makes  no  difference  how  dilatory  you  are  in  the 
matter,  within  thirty  years  there  will  be  steam  communication 
from  Boston  pierhead  to  the  Pacific."  The  less  far-seeing  among 
this  group  of  gentlemen  were  inclined  to  treat  the  prediction  as 
a  flight  of  the  imagination,  but  many  of  them  lived  to  see  the 
prophecy  fulfilled,  for,  exactly  thirty  years  and  four  months  after  it 
was  made  the  last  spike  was  driven  in  the  Pacific  Railway. 

Railways,  however,  did  not  exclusively  occupy  Morris'  atten- 
tion; as  he  was  always  a  devoted  farmer  and  successfully  culti- 
vated his  acres,  and  for  many  years,  the  New- York  market  was 
largely  supplied  with  produce  from  his  farm  in  the  form  of  milk 
and  vegetables.  One  of  Morris'  earliest  acts  in  behalf  of  the 
public,  was  the  building  of  a  church  on  a' part  of  his  farm.  This 
church,  a  monument  to  his  mother  and  called  St.  Ann's,  was  built 
in  1841,  and  consecrated  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  the  summer 
of  the  same  year.  It  is  now  a  flourishing  city  parish,  and,  stand- 
ing as  it  does  surrounded  by  beautiful  grounds,  it  bids  fair  to 
become  the  first  church  in  this  large  and  important  part  of  New- 
York  City.     . 

In  February,  1842,  Mr.  Morris  married  his  cousin,  Miss  Martha 
Jefferson  Cary  of  Virginia,  and  by  her  had  ten  children  of  whom 
five  survive  him.  Mrs.  Morris  died  in  1873,  and  in  1 876,  Mr.  Morris 
married  his  cousin,  Miss  Anna  Morris.  After  his  second  mar- 
riage, he  lived  quietly  at  Pelham,  where  he  died  after  a  long 
illness,  August  20,  1888,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

The  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years  covered  by 
the  lives  of  the  two  men,  father  and  son,  was  one  of  vast  interest 
to  the  civilized  world.     It  embraced  the  American  revolution  for 


FRANKLIN    HAVEN.  45 

independence,  the  revolution  in  France  for  liberty,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  far-reaching  power  of  the  press,  the  perfecting  of  the 
locomotive -engine  which  has  opened  up  the  immense  resources  of 
America,  and  the  unfolding  of  the  amazing  power  of  the  electric 
telegraph.  With  keen  intelligence,  the  two  Morrises,  father  and 
son,  conceived  and  prophesied  the  development  of  their  country, 
and  each,  in  his  generation,  labored  earnestly  for  its  advance- 
ment. 

Mr.  Morris  was  a  man  of  powerful  physique,  had  a  robust  and 
generous  nature,  and  possessed  broad  views  regarding  matters  of 
public  policy.  He  was  somewhat  negligent  of  his  personal 
appearance,  but  with  commendable  pride,  he  always  signed  his 
name  "Gouverneur  Morris  of  Morrisania."* 

Franklin  Haven  was  born  May  30,  1804.  When  the  Mer- 
chants Bank  of  Boston  was  incorporated  in  1831,  Mr.  Haven  ac- 
cepted the  office  of  cashier.  He  was  elected,  1836,  its  president, 
which  office  he  continued  to  hold  until  Jan.,  1884,  having  served 
the  institution  in  the  two  capacities  for  over  half-a  century.  At 
the  time  of  his  resignation,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Franklin 
Haven,  jr.  He  continued  a  director,  however,  until  March,  1885, 
when  he  resigned  that  position  and  was  succeeded  by  Abbott 
Lawrence. 

In  1838,  he  was  appointed  pension  agent  for  New  England 
and  held  that  office  seventeen  years.  He  was  also  appointed 
sub-treasurer  at  Boston  in  1849  and  resigned  in  1853,  but  at  the 
request  of  President  Peirce  continued  a  year  longer.  As  chair- 
man of  the  commission  on  public  lands  of  the  state  in  1859, 
and  many  years  subsequent,  he  had  much  to  do  with  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  city  of  Boston  over  what  is 
known  as  the  Back  Bay,  now  the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  city. 
He  enjoyed  the  acquaintance  and  esteem  of  Daniel  Webster,  and 
after  his  death  and  that  of  his  son  Fletcher,  became  guardian  of 
Fletcher's  children.  He  was  an  incorporator  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company  and  a  director  from  Feb.  10,  1851  to 

*  "Gouverneur  Morris,"  by  Anne  Cary  Morris,  Genealogical  and  Biograph- 
ical Record,  January,  1889. 


46  JOSEPH   W.   ALSO  P. 

May  28,  1862,  and  gave  much  of  his  valuable  time  to  the  affairs 
of  the  company.  As  he  resided  in  Boston,  he  was  obliged  to 
make  a  journey  to  New  York  each  time  he  attended  a  board- 
meeting,  which  he  did  with  frequency.  When  he  retired  from 
the  directory,  the  board  made  a  handsome  recognition  of  his 
services.  Mr.  Haven  is  a  gentleman  of  striking  features, 
tall  and  erect,  of  courtly  bearing  and  possessed  of  great 
dignity  of  manner  as  well  as  kindly  feeling,  and  is  perfectly 
upright  in  all  his  business  relations.  Among  the  people  of  New 
England  and  especially  among  the  bankers  and  merchants,  none 
stand  higher  in  the  estimation  of  their  fellowmen  than  he.  Mr. 
Haven  still  lives  in  Boston  and  is  the  sole  survivor  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  company.  He  spends  about  half  the  year  at 
his  country-house  in  Beverly  Farms,  where  he  has  ever  dispensed 
a  genial  hospitality.  His  place  is  noted  as  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  sea -side  homes  in  New  England. 

Joseph  W.  Alsop  was  for  many  years  of  the  firm  of  Alsop 
and  Chauncey  of  New  York,  formerly  Alsop,  Wetmore  and 
Cryder,  one  of  the  greatest  of  New- York's  old  mercantile  houses. 
The  Alsops  trace  back  their  ancestry  to  Richard  Alsop,  who  was 
lord  mayor  of  Dublin  in  1597.  Joseph  W.  Alsop  was  descended 
from  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  Connecticut,  which  had  settled 
at  Middletown  before  the  revolution,  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century;  Middletown  being  at  that  time  a  commercial  seaport 
doing  more  business  than  New  Haven  and  Hartford  combined. 

Joseph  W.  Alsop  was  born  in  Middletown,  Nov.  22,  1804.  He 
received  a  common -school  education.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he 
entered  the  commission-house,  of  which  his  father  was  'senior 
partner,  as  clerk.  The  house  then  commanded  a  large  share  of 
the  West-Indian  and  South-American  trade,  and  in  the  capacity 
of  agent,  Alsop  made  several  voyages  to  Santa  Cruz  and  other 
commercial  ports. 

He  came  to  New  York  in  1824  and  soon  thereafter  began 
business  in  his  own  name.  Branches  of  the  house  of  Alsop  and 
Company  were  established  on  the  western  coast  of  South  America, 
where  they  are  still  conducted  under  the  same  firm -name  and. 


ALSOP   AND   CHAUNCEY —  PANAMA   RAILROAD.        47 


^ 


where  they  now,  almost  alone,  maintain  the  repute  of  American 
commerce  in  fields  from  which  it  has  been  driven  by  our  own  / 
stupid  legislation.  In  1842,  on  the  return  of  Henry  Chauncey 
— at  that  time  one  of  our  first  merchants — from  South  America, 
the  firm  of  Alsop  and  Chauncey  was  formed.  The  partnership 
continued  until  the  death  of  Chauncey  about  fifteen  years  ago. 
Shortly  before  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  William  H. 
Aspinwall,  in  connection  with  the  old  house  of  Howland  and 
Aspinwall,  started  a  line  of  steamships  to  run  in  connection  with 
the  Panama  Railroad.  In  both  of  these  enterprises,  the  New- 
York  branch  of  Alsop  and  Chauncey  took  a  prominent  part. 
Aspinwall,  upon  whom  the  principal  labor  of  establishing  the 
railroad  devolved,  subsequently  said  that  had  it  not  been  for  the 
sagacity,  integrity,  and  capital  of  Alsop's  firm,  the  road  would 
not  have  been  finished.  Besides  the  firm  of  Howland  and  Aspin- 
wall, John  L.  Stephens,  Gouverneur  Campbell,  Joseph  W.  Riley, 
Edward  Bartlett,  and  Samuel  Comstock,  were  associated  with 
Alsop  in  the  Panama  enterprise,  several  of  whom  were  succes- 
sively connected  with  the  house  of  Alsop  and  Chauncey,  and  all 
of  whom  were  familiar  with  the  Southern  coast  and  with  the  wants 
of  commerce,  and  who  understood  the  usefulness  of  this  road  to 
American  trade. 

Mr.*  Alsop  was  the  first  president  of  the  Ohio-and-Mississippi 
Railroad,  and  was  receiver  of  it  for  ten  years  and  retired  in  favor 
of  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan. .  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  and  a  director  from 
Feb.  10,  1 85 1  to  May  27,  1863.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Sea- 
men's Savings  Bank  and  was  its  treasurer  for  many  years,  and 
was  also  director  of  the  Woman's  and  St.  Luke's  hospitals.  Mr. 
Alsop  had  not  been  actively  engaged  in  business  for  about  seven 
years  at  the  time  of  his  death,  1870,  but  had  remained  in  the  city 
during  each  winter  and  at  the  old  homestead  in  Middletown 
during  the  summer. 

Mr.  Alsop  was  always  a  warm  friend  to  the  deserving  poor,  apd 
young  men  of  principle  and  integrity  who  got  into  business 
embarrassment,  he  helped,  often  at  great  inconvenience  to  him- 
self.    He  always  declined  to  accept  any  political  office.     He  was 


48  DAVID   A.   NEAL. 

an  earnest  friend  to  the  democratic  party,  but  never  permitted 
his  political  principles  to  influence  or  disturb  his  social  rela- 
tions. He  died  at  his  residence,  No.  32  West  -  Washington 
Place,  New-York  City,  February  26,  1878.  He  left  a  wife  and 
one  son,  Dr.  Joseph  W.  Alsop  of  Middletown,  Connecticut. 
He  was  an  exceedingly  conscientious  and  upright  man,  and  died 
as  he  had  lived  deeply  loved  and  respected.  His  remains  were 
taken  by  special  train  to  his  native  town  for  burial.  The  funeral 
services  in  New  York  were  conducted  by  Dr.  Eaton  and  Dr. 
John  Cotton  Smith,  and  at  Middletown,  Bishop  Williams 
officiated.  Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  greatest  of  New  York's 
old  merchants. 

Captain  David  Augustus  Neal,  the  first  vice-president 
of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  company  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors 
from  Feb.  10,  1851  to  March  19,  1856.  He  was  born  at  Salem, 
Mass.,  in  June,  1793;  his  life  was  an  exceedingly  eventful  one. 
He  received  a  thorough  elementary  education  and  left  school 
early.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  made  his  first  voyage  to 
Calcutta  as  super -cargo  in  the  brig  Alexandria,  a  small  craft  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  tons  burthen,  owned  by  himself  and  his 
father.  In  181 7,  he  made  a  voyage  to  Batavia,  a  city  of  Java — 
the  capital  of  the  Dutch  possessions  in  the  East  Indies,  in  com- 
mand of  the  same  vessel.  This  voyage  he  always  said  was  with- 
out doubt  the  first  voyage  ever  navigated  on  tee-total  principles. 
As  he  had  come  to  the  command  of  his  vessel,  as  the  phrase  is 
"through  the  cabin  window,"  that  is  to  say  through  the  circum- 
stance of  part  ownership  and  without  the  rough  discipline,  delay, 
and  experience  of  the  lower  grades  of  service,  his  crew  at  once 
began  to  presume  upon  this  fact  and  to  test  his  quality.  When  a 
few  days  out,  the  men  sent  back,  by  one  of  their  number,  the 
usual  allowance  of  grog  which  had  been  served,  stating  that 
if  they  could  not  have  more,  they  would  not  have  any.  The 
young  captain  took  them  at  their  word,  directed  the  ship's  stew- 
ard to  "cut  off  the  tap,"  and  navigated  his  brig  without  further 
trouble.  His  comment  was,  "the  rum  came  home  safe  and  so 
did  the  men." 


CAPTAIN    NEALS   ADVENTURES.  49 

During  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812,  he  embarked  in 
privateering  and  met  with  considerable  success.  In  May,  1814, 
he  was  captured  and  taken  to  Halifax,  where  he  spent  his  freedom 
birthday  in  a  British  prison.  From  Halifax,  in  July,  181 4,  he 
sailed  in  a  transport,  one  of  a  fleet  conveyed  by  the  Goliath, 
Capt.  Maitland,  for  Dartmoor  prison  in  England.  While  in  the 
fogs  of  the  Grand  Banks  of  New  Foundland,  he  took  part  in  an 
attempt  to  get  possession  of  the  transport,  was  severely  wounded 
and  had  his  hand  dressed  by  Surgeon  Barry  O'Meara  of  the 
Goliath,  who,  soon  after,  joined  Capt.  Maitland  of  the  Bellero- 
phon,  going  with  him  to  St.  Helena  in  charge  of  the  captured 
Bonaparte.  Surgeon  O'Meara  afterward  wrote  a  famous  memoir 
of  the  event.  Capt.  Neal  carried  with  him  the  evidence  of 
this  attempted  escape  until  his  dying  day.  He  was  released 
from  Dartmoor  by  the  treaty  of  peace  of  181 5.  later,  he  was 
a  shipmaster  in  the  merchant  -  service  and  commanded  ships 
until  the  summer  of  1826,  making  several  voyages  to  the  Medi- 
terranean, the  East  and  West  Indies,  South  America,  and  inci- 
dentally visiting  a  great  deal  of  the  interesting  scenery  and  a 
great  many  of  the  historical  spots  in  Europe  and  Asia.  He  was 
an  observant  traveller  and  gained  much  valuable  knowledge  in 
his  trips  abroad.  These  were  singularly  free  from  disaster  with  the 
exception  of  one  trip  to  Sumatra,  undertaken  in  18 18,  where  his 
crew  fell  sick  and  some  died.  Failing  to  ship  fresh  hands  there, 
he  made  the  best  of  his  way  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to 
the  island  of  Saint  Helena  in  hopes  of  a  supply  of  provisions, 
medicines,  and  able-bodied  men.  But  here  Napoleon  was  a 
prisoner,  and  access  to  the  harbor  was  so  jealously  guarded  that 
he  succeeded  in  obtaining  nothing  but  supplies  for  his  depleted 
medicine-chest.  He  returned  from  this  place  with  his  vessel  in 
charge  of  himself,  one  old  sailor,  and  two  chinamen,  they  being 
the  only  able-bodied  seamen  on  board.  In  this  miserable  condi- 
tion, he  at  last  reached  the  coast  of  Virginia  in  the  tempestuous 
January  of  1820  with  his  remnant  of  a  crew  on  short  allowance 
and  here  he  suffered  total  shipwreck  in  sight  of  the  lights  of  Cape 
Hatteras.  The  shore,  being  white  with  snow,  had  misled  them  as 
to  distance.  Capt.  Neal  made  his  way  to  Norfolk  and  Baltimore, 
4 


50  FIRST   VICE-PRESIDENT   ILLINOIS   CENTRAL. 

where  having  settled  the  disastrous  voyage  with  his  owners,  he 
took  passage  for  Philadelphia  on  Monday,  early  in  March,  in  a 
government  mail-wagon. 

On  retiring  from  the  sea,  he  became  a  commercial  partner  in 
the  house  of  Neal  and  Sons,  which  was  founded  by  his  father,  an 
old  revolutionary  veteran,  privateersman,  and  prisoner  of  warr 
and  finally  became  head  of  that  house  on  the  retirement  of  Capt. 
Neal,  sr.  He  became  president  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  of 
Massachusetts  in  1841,  when  it  was  extending  its  lines  from 
Massachusetts  into  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  subsequently 
took  charge  also  of  the  Reading  Railroad  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
affairs  of  which  were  much  disordered  and  which  was  then  in 
control  of  Eastern  bankers.  Both  of  these  positions  he  resigned 
in  1 85 1  to  become  vice-president  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad 
Company,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  and 
in  which  he  held  a  large  pecuniary  interest.  He  remained  in  that 
position  four  years.  He  was  a  director  for  five  years  until  1856. 
In  1851,  he  visited  Illinois  and  went  over  the  proposed  route 
with  Col.  Roswell  B  Mason,  was  very  favorably  impressed  with 
the  country,  and  made  a  very  elaborate  report  to  the  board  of 
directors  on  the  value  of  lands  and  on  the  resources  and  probable 
amount  of  traffic  that  would  be  controlled  by  the  line  when  com- 
pleted. He  also  paid  considerable  attention  to  the  organization 
of  the  land -department  and  to  the  platting  and  selling  of  the 
lands  which  had  been  donated  to  the  company.  During  the 
period  of  the  construction  of  the  road,  he  made  two  trips  to 
Europe,  spending  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  in  Liverpool, 
where  he  purchased  about  80,000  tons  of  iron  rails  of  a  most 
excellent  quality — 56  pounds  to  the  yard.*  In  London,  he  took 
part  in  the  negotiation  of  the  first  issue  of  sterling  bonds  made 
by  the  company.     They  were  sold  at  a  premium. 

*  The  receiving  and  forwarding  of  these  rails  was  entrusted  to  a  com- 
mission-house established  in  New  York  in  1852,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Clark  &  Jesup,  being  composed  of  Charles  G.  Clark  and  Morris  K.  Jesup. 
This  was  the  inception  of  the  present  firm  of  Crerar,  Adams  &  Co.  (John 
McGregor  Adams,  Edward  S.  Shepherd),  extensive  manufacturers  of  railway 
supplies,  Chicago,  whose  senior  partner,  John  Crerar,  recently  died,  leaving 
such  a  munificent  sum  to  the  city  for  a  public  library,  and  other  liberal  bequests. 


WILLIAM    H.   ASPINVVALL.  5  I 

Capt.  Neal  was  a  man  of  robust  nature  and  of  great  physical 
endurance.  In  his  religious  views,  he  was  perhaps  inclined  to  be 
somewhat  heterodox,  or,  even  skeptical;  he  was  brought  up  in 
the  midst  of  tendencies  and  influences  which  may  have  been 
intensified  by  his  early  acquaintance  with  oriental  life  and  thought, 
of  which  in  his  autobiography,  which  he  left  in  manuscript,  he 
writes  most  understandingly.  Capt.  Neal  never  held  political 
office  of  any  kind.  He  died  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  August, 
1861. 

William  H.  Aspinwall,  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the^ 
company,  was  born  in  New  York,  Dec.  16,  1807;  he  was  a 
nephew  of  Gardner  G.  Howland,  and,  at  an  early  age,  he  entered 
the  old  shipping  -house  of  Gardiner  G.  and  Samuel  S.  Howland, 
and  was  taken  into  the  firm  in  1832.  In  1837,  the  new  firm  of 
Howland  and  Aspinwall  was  established.  This  house  had  the 
largest  Pacific-coast  trade  of  any  firm  in  New  York,  besides  doing 
an  extensive  business  with  the  East  and  West  Indies,  England, 
and  the  Mediterranean.  Shortly  after  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  California,  he  retired  from  the  active  management  of  the 
firm  and  secured  the  contract  for  a  line  of  mail -steamers  to  run 
from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  San  Francisco,  Cal.  This  line 
was  established  under  the  name  of  the  Pacific  -  Mail  Steamship 
Company.  He  and  his  associates  also  organized  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company,  and  constructed  its  road.  In  aid  of  its  con- 
struction, they  received  a  liberal  concession  from  the  government 
of  New  Granada.  Owing  to  the  unhealthy  climate  of  the  coun- 
try through  which  the  line  passed,  the  construction  proved  an 
expensive  work,  but  after  many  difficulties  the  road  was  com- 
pleted and  opened  for  business  Feb.  17,  1855.  In  both  of  these 
enterprises,  Mr.  Aspinwall  was  eminently  successful  and  he  held 
the  office  of  president  of  the  company  for  many  years.  He 
founded  the  city  of  Aspinwall,  at  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
railway.  Besides  his  brief  connection  with  the  Illinois- Central 
Railroad,  Mr.  Aspinwall  was  interested  in  the  construction  of 
the  Ohio -and -Mississippi  Railroad,  extending  from  Cincinnati 
to  St.  Louis.  This  was  built  as  a  broad-gauge  road,  but  after- 
ward changed  to  the  standard  gauge.     Mr.  Aspinwall   traveled 


52  THOMAS   WILLIAM    LUDLOW. 

much  in  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  and,  being  a  liberal  patron 
of  tie  fine  arts,  made  an  important  collection  of  paintings.  These 
were  sold  by  his  family  in  1886.  Mr.  Aspinwall  was  a  man  of 
fine  presence,  a  courteous  gentleman,  an  earnest  christian,  and 
justly  ranked  as  one  of  New  York's  great  merchant -princes;  he 
was  remarkable  for  his  generosity  and  his  lenience  to  the  debtors 
of  his  house.  He  died  in  his  native  city,  Jan.  18,  1875,  m  tne 
sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

His  son,  Lloyd,  commanded  the  23d  Regiment  of  New- York 
militia  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion  in  its  three  months'  ser- 
vice; had  charge  of  the  purchase  of  vessels  for  the  Newbern 
expedition;  was  president  of  a  board  to  revise  army  regulations; 
was  General  Burnside's  aid  at  Fredericksburg;  and,  after  the  war, 
was  a  brigadier-general  in  the  National  guard. 

Thomas  William  Ludlow,  a  son  of  Thomas  Ludlow 
and  Mary  Ludlow,  was  born  at  his  father's  house,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Garden  Street  (now  Exchange  Place)  and 
Broadway,  New  York,  on  June  14,  1795.  He  was  a  great-grand- 
son of  the  founder  of  the  New-York  family  of  Ludlow,  Gabriel 
(arrived  in  New  York,  1694),  who  came  of  the  old  English  stock 
to  which  belonged  the  republican  general,  Sir  Edmund  Ludlow, 
and  the  great  Puritan  statesman  and  jurist,  Roger  Ludlow  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut*  Thomas  W.  Ludlow  graduated 
with  credit  from  Columbia  College  in  the  class  of  181 1,  and 
served  as  a  trustee  of  his  alma  mater  from  1833  to  1836.  After 
graduating  he  read  law  with  Martin  Wilkins.  In  1825,  he  went 
to  England  with  his  cousin,  Frances  Mary  Ludlow,  wife  of  Philip 
Thomas  and  mother  of  Ludlow  Thomas,  in  connection  with  her 
claim  to  the  Harison  succession,  then  in  the  English  courts,  and 

*  Gabriel  Ludlow,  son  of  Gabriel  Ludlow  and  Martha,  his  wife,  from 
■whom  the  New-York  branch  of  the  Ludlows  are  descended,  was  born  at 
Castle  Carey,  in  Somerset,  England,  November  2,  1663.  He  arrived  in  New 
York,  November  24,  1694.  He  was  clerk  to  the  provincial  assembly,  and 
one  of  the  first  vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church.  lie  married  at  the  fort  in 
New-York  City,  on  Easter  Monday,  April  5,  1697,  Sarah  Hanmer,  one  of 
the  daughters  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hanmer,  D.D.,  then  deceased,  who  was 
chaplain  to  his  majesty's  forces  in  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  the 


THOMAS   WILLIAM   LUDLOW.  53 

was  successful.  However,  he  soon  withdrew  from  general  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  His  brother-in-law,  Gulian  Ludlow,  recom- 
mended him,  toward  the  close  of  his  active  life,  to  his  family 
connections  of  the  great  banking-house  of  Crommelin  of  Amster- 
dam, and  to  his  English  correspondents  as  well,  and  for  many 
years  Mr.  T.  W.  Ludlow  had  charge  of  their  important  commis- 
sion business  in  America,  and  conducted  it  so  much  to  their 
satisfaction  that,  upon  his  retirement,  the  Crommelins  sent  him  a 
large  sum  of  money,  with  which  he  procured,  as  a  souvenir,  a 
splendid  service  of  plate.  For  the  account  of  the  Dutch  house, 
Mr.  Ludlow  had  much  to  do  with  a  loan  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  an  affair  of  considerable  importance  at  the  time.  He 
represented  also  the  Holland  Land  Company,  and  was  at  one 
time  instrumental  in  saving  the  interests  of  his  clients,  which 
were  menaced  by  an  adverse  sentiment  in  congress. 

From  early  manhood,  Mr.  Ludlow's  mental  grasp  of  the  pros- 
pects and  promises  of  the  country,  which  was  then  almost  wholly 
undeveloped,  was  remarkably  comprehensive,  and  with  his  imme- 
diate associates,  many  of  them  at  that  time  or  since  distinguished 
in  the  fields  of  public  or  of  private  affairs,  he  took  an  active  part 
in  the  inception  of  a  number  of  business  enterprises  which  have 
continued  to  be  highly  prosperous,  and  have  several  of  them 
contributed  not  a  little  to  the  national  progress.  Thus  he  became 
one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany, February  10,  1851,  and  was  a  director  of  that  company 
from  February  10,  185 1,  to  August  25,  1854.  He  was  the  first 
president  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company;  a  director  of  the 
New- York  Life  Insurance  Company;  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  New- York  Life  Insurance  and  Trust  Company.     Of  the  last 

first  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  province  of  New  York. 
The  descent  of  Thomas  W.  Ludlow  is  as  follows:  Gabriel  Ludlow,  born 
at  Castle  Carey,  Somerset,  England,  Nov.  2,  1663;  married  in  New  York, 
April  5,  1697,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hanmer,  D.D.  Henry  Ludlow 
(eldest  surviving  son),  born  May  22,  1701;  married,  in  1725,  Mary,  dau.  and 
heiress  of  John  Corbett  of  Rockland.  Thomas  Ludlow  (a  younger  son), 
born  July  21,  1742;  died  January,  1822;  married  Mary  Ludlow,  his  first 
cousin,  dau.  of  William  Ludlow  and  Mary  Duncan.  Thomas  William 
Ludlow  (second  son),  born  in  New- York  City,  June  14,  1795. 


54  THOMAS   WILLIAM   LUDLOW. 

* 
corporation,  Mr.  Ludlow  served  as  vice-president  up  to  the  time 

of  his  death.     This  corporation  has  been  managed  so  well  that 

the  shares  originally  issued  at  $100  now  sell  for  $700. 

Mr.  Ludlow  was  enrolled  in  his  youth  in  the  militia  force 
assembled  to  defend  New  York  during  the  war  of  181 2.  In 
1837,  under  his  friend,  President  VanBuren,  he  was  sent  to 
Europe  on  a  special  mission  for  the  United-States  treasury,  and 
from  1837  to  1839  visited  all  the  important  capitals  and  financial 
centres,  meeting  with  very  satisfactory  success  in  the  placing  of 
large  amounts  of  United- States  securities  during  that  period  of 
grave  business  disturbance  at  home.  He  was  present  with  his 
wife  at  the  coronation  of  Queen  Victoria  in  Westminister  Abbey, 
in  1838.  After  1853-5,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ludlow  traveled 
leisurely  through  England,  Erance,  Belgium,  Holland,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  Austria-;  and  Italy,  for  their  pleasure,  he  retired  from 
active  business  other  than  the  management  of  his  own  property. 

While  always  inclined  to  favor  democratic  tenets,  Mr.  Ludlow 
numbered  among  his  intimates,  chiefs  of  both  great  parties,  and, 
possibly  because  of  his  independent  bias  in  public  questions,  he 
never  essayed  to  take  an  active  part  in  politics.  Nevertheless 
he  was  a  man  of  much  public  spirit,  always  interested  in  the 
consideration  of  state  and  political  questions,  and  in  the  pro- 
motion, as  well,  of  the  local  interests  and  improvements  of  the 
community  in  which  he  lived. 

Mr.  Ludlow  married,  in  1828,  Frances  Wickham  Morris,  a 
beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Robert  Morris  of  Ford- 
ham  (Morrisania),  and  established  a  charming  home  in  the  then 
fashionable  quarter  of  the  fifth  ward  of  the  city,  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Varick  and  Laight  Streets,  Hudson  Square,  opposite  St. 
John's  Park,  which  is  now  the  site  of  the  freight-station  of  the 
New- York  Central  Railroad.  Soon  afterward  he  acquired  a  large 
tract  of  property  south  of  Yonkers,  adjoining  the  new  station 
of  the  Hudson-River  Road  which  bears  his  name,  Ludlow,  and 
his  country-place  there,  long  reputed  one  of  the  most  commodi- 
ous and  beautiful  on  the  river,  was  among  the  first  of  the  delight- 
ful modern  places  for  which  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  near  New 
York  have  since  become  famous.     Many  pleasant  allusions   to 


HENRY  GRINNELL.  55 


this  place  and  the  hospitable  life  there  appear  in  the  recently- 
published  diary  of  his  friend  Philip  Hone.* 

May  30,  1832,  upon  the  return  of  Washington  Irving  to  this 
country  from  diplomatic  service  abroad,  Mr.  Ludlow  and  other 
friends  and  admirers  of  Irving  gave  him  a  grand  dinner  at  the 
City  Hotel,  New  York,  then  the  most  notable  hotel  in  the  city. 
Three  hundred  persons  sat  down  to  the  dinner  table  at  six 
o'clock,  among  them  most  of  the  best  and  most  prominent  men 
in  New  York.     It  was  one  of  the  society  events  of  that  day. 

Despite  Mr.  Ludlow's  intimate  connection  with  many  great 
business  enterprises,  he  never  cared  to  become  what  would  now 
be  considered  a  rich  man.  He  was  satisfied  to  enjoy  what  was 
for  ante-bellum  days  an  ample  competence,  and  he  delighted 
above  all,  with  his  closest  family  connections — Morrises,  Hamil- 
tons,  Schuylers,  Livingstons — in  the  social  and  intellectual  inter- 
course and  entertainment  of  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  the  most 
cultured  and  polished  of  the  metropolis.  In  this  choice  circle, 
for  half  a  century  he  was  so  much  loved  and  esteemed  that 
although  his  generation  has  passed  away,  the  name  of  this  old- 
school  gentleman — the  very  soul  of  honor  and  embodiment  of 
aristocratic  courtesy — is  still  remembered  and  respected  in  busy 
New  York. 

Mr.  Ludlow  died  at  his  country-seat,  Cottage  Lawn,  Yonkers, 
New  York,  July  17,  1878,  leaving  behind  him  the  memory  of  a 
thoroughly  just,  upright,  liberal,  and  temperate  life. 

Henry  Grinnell  was  born  in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
in  1800,  was  graduated  at  New-Bedford  Academy  in  18 18,  and 
during  the  same  year  became  clerk  in  a  commission-house  in  Pine 
Street,  New  York.  In  1825,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Fish  and  Grinnell,  afterward  Grinnell,  Minturn  and  Company. 
He  was  much  interested  in  geography,  and  especially  in  Arctic 
exploration,  and  in  1850  at  his  own  expense,  fitted  out  an  expe- 
dition to  search  for  Sir  John  Franklin,  from  whom  nothing  had 
been  heard  in  five  years.  The  expedition  sailed  from  New  York 
in  May,  1850,  under  command  of  Lieut.  E.  J.  DeHaven  with  Dr. 

*  See  especially  volime  II,  page  82. 


56  A   CONTRAST. 

Klisha  Kent  Kane  (whose  second-cousin,  Elias  Kent  Kane,  was  a 
senator  from  Illinois)  as  surgeon  and  naturalist.  It  discovered 
land  in  latitude  750  24'  21"  which  was  named  Grinnell  Land — 
an  island  north  of  Cornwallis  Island  which  should  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  better-known  Grinnell  Land  bordering  on  the 
frozen  sea.  In  1853,  in  conjunction  with  George  Peabody,  he 
spent  $50,000  in  the  equipment  of  the  second  Franklin  search 
expedition,  giving  it  also  his  personal  supervision.  This  expedi- 
tion was  placed  in  charge  of  Dr.  Kane,  and  .the  government  bore 
part  of  its  expenses.  Mr.  Grinnell  also  contributed  freely  to  the 
Hayes'  expedition  of  i860,  and  to  the  "Polaris"  expedition  of 
1 87 1.  He  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company  and  named  in  the  charter;  but,  as  he 
was  about  retiring  from  active  business  at  the  time  the  company 
was  being  organized,  his  connection  with  it  was  brief.  Through- 
out life,  he  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  interests  of  sailors. 
He  was  the  first  president  of  the  American  Geographical  Society 
in  1852-3,  and  %  vice-president  from  1854-72.  His  daughter, 
Sylvia,  married  Admiral  Ruxton  of  the  British  navy,  and  in  1 886, 
presented  to  that  society  a  crayon  portrait  of  her  father  framed 
in  wood  taken  from  the  Resolute.  Mr.  Grinnell  was  also  one  of 
the  merchant  princes  of  New  York  and  died  in  that  city,  June  30, 
1874,  universally  loved  and  respected. 

A  New- York  paper,  commenting  lately  upon  a  man  who  had 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  railroad-world,  said: 

"His  fortune  is  variously  estimated  from  fifteen  to  twenty -five 
millions.  Outside  of  the  corporations  he  controls  and  his  money, 
he  occupies  but  little  space,  having  no  interest  in  public  affairs, 
in  literature,  science,  art,  or  society.  *  *  Of  full  habit  and 
florid  complexion,  his  white  hair  becomes  him,  and  he  looks  as 
serene  and  contented  as  if  he  had  passed  his  life  in  benefitting 
his  fellows.  He  does  not  dislike  them,  but  he  gives  himself  no 
trouble  concerning  their  progress  and  amelioration,  one  of  the 
cardinal  articles  of  his  faith  being  that  every  man  should  paddle 
his  own  canoe.  What  he  lacks — mental,  moral,  or  social  cultiva- 
tion— he  does  not  care  for  or  miss ;  what  he  has — a  vast  property 


ROBERT   SCHUYLER.  57 

and  the  capacity  to  increase  it — he  understands  and  thoroughly 
enjoys."  -     \ 

What  a  contrast  does  this  picture  present  to  those  I  have 
drawn  from  the  life  and  labors  of  such  men  as  I  have  referred  to. 
Let  the  reader  think  for  a  moment  of  a  sordid,  selfish  soul,  suc- 
cessful perhaps  as  the  world  sometimes  counts  success;  but 
actuated  by  no  worthy  ambitions,  and  then  let  him  think  of  some 
of  the  splendid  specimens  of  manhood  who  were  co- laborers  in 
the  enterprise  whose  annals  I  am  writing.  Statesmen,  working 
out  problems  for  their  country's  good — warriors,  incited  to  coura- 
geous action  by  patriotic  devotion— honorable  merchants,  eleva- 
ting the  standard  of  commercial  integrity — christians,  whose  pure 
lives  stand  out  as  bright  examples — bold  pioneers,  opening  up 
new  territory  to  civilization — -American  gentlemen,  whose  grace 
and  manners  left  their  impress  on  the  period  in  which  they  lived 
— philanthropists,  giving  largely  of  their  means  to  rescue  the 
brave  as  well  as  the  fallen;  and  let  him  turn  from  the  sadder  to 
the  brighter  picture,  with  more  hope  for  humanity  and  a  desire  to 
emulate  the  deeds  and  characters  of  its  noblet  examples. 

Robert   Schuyler  was  the  first  president  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company,  a  grandson  of  Gen.  Phillip  Schuyler 
of  revolutionary  fame;  he  served  from  March  19,  1851  to  July  3, 
1854.      He  became  interested  in  Illinois  railways  through  the^N. 
purchase  of  the  finished  portion,  24  miles,  of  the  Northern-Cross       A 
Railroad  from  Jacksonville  to  Meredosia,  the  first  railroad  con- 
structed in  the  State.     It  was  sold  at  public  sale,  April  26,  1847,     / 
and  purchased  by  Nicholas  H.  Ridgely  of  Springfield,  who  soon    7s 
after,  through  the  negotiations  of  Thomas  Mather  of  the  same/ 
city,  sold  it  to  a  construction  company  organized  in  New  York 
in  which  Schuyler  was  interested.     Its  name  was  changed  to  the 
"Sangamon  and  Morgan  Railroad "  and  it  was  rebuilt,  work  being 
completed  July  22,  1849. 

The  record  of  Robert  Schuyler  in  his  connection  with  Ameri- 
can railways  is  an  interesting,  but  a  sad  one,  to  dwell  upon. 
He  was  a  pioneer  in  American  railway  construction  and  justly 
deserved  the  title  of  the  first  railroad  king.     He  was  at  one 


58  ROBERT   SCHUYLER. 


/ 


time  the  president  of  five  railways,  viz:  the  New- York -and - 
New- Haven,  the  Harlem,  the  Illinois -Central,  the  Rensalaer- 
and  -  Saratoga,  and  the  Sangamon  -  and  -  Morgan,  and  these  vari- 
ous positions  he  held  up  to  a  certain  period  with  great  credit 
to  himself.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  business  ability,  aided 
by  a  sound  judgment  and  a  liberal  education.  In  his  devo- 
tion to  duty,  he  was  no  less  remarkable;  though  broken  in 
health,  he  was  frequently  found  laboring  in  his  private  rooms 
until  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  in  a  conscientious  effort  to 
serve  the  best  interests  of  his  shareholders.  His  versatility  of 
mind  enabled  him  to  accomplish  great  results  in  a  shori  space  of 
time.  He  was  a  man  of  keen  perceptions,  clear  and  comprehen- 
sive views,  and  these  constituted  him  a  wise  counsellor.  His  un- 
affected dignity,  courteous  bearing,  and  refined  manner,  com- 
manded the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  these  included 
many  eminent  persons  of  his  day.  Such  qualities  lent  a  peculiar 
charm  to  his  office  and  station,  and  gave  him  the  presence  of  an 
American  gentleYnan.  I  There  was  a  provision  in  the  charter  of 
one  of  the  railroad  companies  with  which  he  was  connected  that 
required  its  completion  within  a  certain  time  under  a  penalty  of 
forfeiture.  In  an  effort  to  complete  it  within  the  specified  time, 
as  was  supposed,  he  in  an  evil  moment  of  mistaken  zeal,  resorted 
to  very  questionable  measures,  which  in  the  end  proved  his  down- 
fall. In  addition  to  holding  the  office  of  president  of  the  New- 
York  -  and  -  New  -  Haven  Railroad  Company,  he  was  the  transfer 
agent  of  that  company.  At  that  time,  the  share  certificates  of 
railways  were  not  countersigned  as  they  now  are;  consequently 
there  was  nothing  to  prevent  irregularities.  Transfer  agents  had 
it  in  their  power  at  that  time  to  over-issue  the  shares  of  a  railway, 
and  it  was  done  in  this  instance.  The  first  irregular  issue  was 
made  in  October,  1853,  and  others  followed  until  the  irregularity 
was  discovered,  July  3,  1854.  This  occurrence  resulted  in  the 
action  that  was  afterward  taken  by  the  New- York  stock  exchange, 
requiring  that  all  certificates  be  signed  by  two  officers  of  a  com- 
pany, and  registered  and  countersigned  by  a  third  disinterested 
party,  which  must  be  a  banking  or  trust  company.  This  has 
proved  a  wholesome  check  upon  similar  dishonest  transactions. 


ROBERT   SCHUYLER.  59 

It  also  resulted  in  the  passage  of  a  special  law,  in  1855,  Dv  tne 
legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  familiarly  known  as  the 
"Schuyler  Act,"  making  the  over-issue  of  capital  stock  in  that 
state  a  felony;  for  up  to  this  time  there  was  no  statute  covering 
such  a  breach  of  trust.  A  final  examination  of  the  books  of  the 
New-Haven  Company  and  a  return  of  all  certificates  showed  that 
there  had  been  an  over-issue  of  the  stock  of  that  company  amount- 
ing to  about  $2,000,000.  The  discovery  was  made  by  mere 
accident.  Schuyler  was  taken  ill  on  June  29,  1854,  and  remained 
away  from  his  office  until  July  3  ;  the  vice-president,  Mr.  Worth  en, 
being  called  in  to  act  as  transfer  agent,  the  fraud  was  discovered 
by  the  presentation  of  some  of  the  spurious  certificates  issued  by 
Schuyler.  The  case,  which  was  brought  by  the  holders  of  these 
irregular  certificates,  many  of  whom  claimed  to  be  innocent 
holders,  was  continued  in  the  courts  for  ten  years,  but  finally 
resulted  in  a  decision  in  the  New- York  court  of  appeals,  in  1864, 
against  the  railroad  company,  which  compelled  it  to  reimburse 
every  holder  the  value  of  his  shares. 

Schuyler,  in  his  pride  and  ambition  to  succeed,  and  lack- 
ing the  moral  courage  to  acknowledge  his  needs  and  mistakes, 
fell  into  the  fatal  blunder  which  brought  ruin  to  his  reputa- 
tion, sorrow  to  his  friends,  disgrace  to  his  family- name,  and 
disaster  for  the  time  being  to  the  financial  world.  Flattered 
by  apparent  success — deficient  in  caution — failing  properly  to 
measure  his  resources  —  and  withal,  lacking  the  principle  with 
which  he  had  been  credited,  he  dissipated  large  sums  of  money 
in  an  attempt  to  resuscitate  failing  properties.  In  an  effort 
to  retrieve  himself,  he  committed  this  terrible  wrong.  How- 
ever questionable  his  procedure,  or  reprehensible  his  conduct 
may  appear  to  the  minds  of  those  unfamiliar  with  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  a  careful  investigation  into  his  conduct 
shows  that  he  was  at  least  in  part  actuated  by  unselfish 
motives.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  took  advantage  of  his 
position  merely  to  enrich  himself.  The  trust  imposed  in  him  was 
unlimited,  and  the  burden  laid  upon  him  very  great;  but  there  is  a 
limit  to  human  accomplishment,  and  there  ought  to  be  a  limit  to 
the  responsibility  laid  upon  human  intellect.     If   there  is  not, 


60  WILLIAM   PORTER   BURRALL. 

those  who  impose  excessive  burdens  in  hopes  of  obtaining 
impossible  results,  should  at  least  be  willing  to  share  in  the 
responsibility,  and  to  accept  the  outcome  with  resignation.  In 
this  instance,  the  zeal  to  promote  the  interest  of  one  corporation 
tempted  him  to  draw — temporarily,  as  he  no  doubt  regarded  it — 
upon  the  resources  of  another.  The  redeeming  feature  of  the 
case  laid  in  the  fact  that,  when  the  transaction  was  laid  open,  he 
did  not  attempt  to  palliate  his  offence  and  meet  his  accusers  with 
brazen  effrontery.  His  sense  of  personal  honor  was  so  shocked, 
and  his  mortification  so  great,  that  he  could  not  face  his  friends, 
and  hence  his  flight  to  a  strange  land,  to  find  relief  in  death.  He 
fled  the  country  from  Quebec  in  a  stray  vessel :  had  he  been  a 
polished  villain  instead  of  a  blunderer,  he  might  have  covered 
his  tracks.  But  he  had  not  studied  the  art  of  fraud,  and  so  he 
put  a  very  honest  construction  upon  his  own  dishonesty.  He 
attempted  too  much  for  his  day,  and  failed.  Many  have  gone 
further  since  and  succeeded,  as  the  world  counts  success.  But 
his  was  not  a  day  of  "trusts,"  when  transactions  quite  as  dis- 
honest, and  involving  many  more  millions,  can  be  so  deftly 
hidden  as  to  defy  discovery.  The  world  might  indeed  say  that 
his  sin  partially  lay  in  the  fact  of  his  being  found  out.  The 
subtleties  of  finance  had  defeated  him,  because  in  his  blindness 
he  could  not  see  his  peril  in  time  to  be  warned;  and  so,  in  the 
meridian  of  an  otherwise  bright  and  extraordinary  career,  his 
light  went  out.  A  life  was  extinguished  that  could  not  well  be 
spared  at  that  juncture  from  the  railway  world.  He  died  in  a 
foreign  land,  poor  and  friendless;  the  concealed  worm  had  fed 
upon  him,  until  he  was  wrecked  mentally  and  physically,  and  he 
became  the  mere  shadow  of  his  former  self. 

William  Porter  Burrall  was  the  second  president  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  having  succeeded  Mr.  Schuy- 
ler under  whom  he  had  acted  as  vice-president.  He  was  born 
in  Canaan,  Conn.,  Sept.  18,  1806;  died  at  Hartford,  Conn., 
March  3,  1874.  His  father,  William  Morgan  Burrall,  was  a 
lawyer  by  profession,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  a  prominent  member 
of  the  bar  of  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  an  associate  judge  of  the 


WILLIAM    PORTER   BURRALL.  6\ 

county  court  from  1829-36,  and  after  that,  chief  judge  for  ten 
years.  His  ancestors  were  among  the  original  settlers  of  the 
town  of  Canaan,  and  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Morgan,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  well-known  Hartford  family  of  that  name.  William 
P.  BurralPs  mother  was  Abigail  Porter  Stoddard,  a  descendant 
of  the  Porter  and  Stoddard  families  of  Salisbury,  Conn.,  both  of 
them  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  town  and  state. 
.  Mr.  Burrall  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1826,  among  his 
classmates  being  President  Sturtevant  and  Elizur  Wright;  he 
studied  law  at  the  Litchfield  law-school;  also  in  the  office  of  the 
late  Chief-Justice  Church,  where  he  was  associated  as  a  law-stu- 
dent with  O.  S.  Seymour,  late  chief-justice,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Litchfield  County  in  1829.  He  practised  law  in  his 
native  town  until  October,  1839,  when  he  removed  to  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  Housatonic  Rail- 
road, which  position  he  held  for  fifteen  years.  This  railroad 
had  just  become  an  accomplished  fact  by  the  exertions  of 
Alfred  Bishop,  a  gentleman  of  great  energy  and  personal  power, 
father  of  Hon.  W.  D.  Bishop.  Mr.  Burrall  was  called  from  its 
management  to  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company  as  treas- 
urer, and  became  president.  He  was  afterward  connected 
with  the  New-York-and-New-Haven  Company  as  vice-president, 
then  with  the  Hartford -and -New -Haven  as  vice-president  and 
president,  and  finally  was  made  vice-president  of  the  New-York,- 
New-Haven-and-Hartford  at  the  consolidation  of  the  companies. 
He  was  several  times  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives 
and  also  filled  the  position  of  state  senator. 

In  his  business  relations,  Mr.  Burrall  was  a  man  of  singular 
honesty  and  accuracy.  His  views  were  broad  and  generous.  He 
favored  no  mean  or  stingy  policies.  He  held  in  just  estimate  the 
rights  and  responsibilities  of  railroad  companies,  believing  that 
the  true  secret  of  success  in  railroad  management  is  found  in 
fair  and  courteous  treatment  of  the  traveling  and  trading  public. 
He  desired  the  best,  safest,  an<}  quickest  accommodation  for  all 
patrons  of  his  roads.  He  withheld  no  proper  information  from 
his  stockholders.  He  kept  his  promises  and  asked  of  those  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact  that  they  should  keep  theirs.     He  was 


62  WILLIAM    HENRY   OSBQRN. 

faithful  to  every  trust  reposed  in  him.  As  a  draughtsman  of 
railroad  contracts,  he  had  no  superior  in  the  country.  There  was 
no  ambiguity  in  the  language  he  employed;  every  sentence  was 
so  clearly  expressed  as  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  its 
meaning. 

As  a  citizen,  he  favored  honesty  and  truth  in  all  public  matters. 
The  stain  of  corruption  never  was  upon  his  hands  in  his  exten- 
sive dealings  with  legislatures,  courts,  and  commissions. 

In  the  sphere  of  private  life,  Mr.  Burrall's  course  was  unusually 
charming.  Courteous,  unobtrusive,  pure,  gentle,  tender-hearted 
as  a  child,  he  kept  a  "  peaceful  tenor"  in  all  his  dealings  with  his 
associates.  He  was  benevolent,  but  his  benevolence  was  unos- 
tentatious. He  was  courageous,  but  his  courage  was  always 
tempered  with  consideration  for  others.  His  word  was  as  sacred 
as  if  sealed  as  a  covenant. 

Into  the  privacy  of  domestic  grief  we  may  not  enter,  but  we 
may  say  that  Mr.  Burrall's  large  family  found  in  his  affectionate 
heart  a  faithful  response  in  all  the  tenderest  relations  of  life,  and 
that  his  sudden  death  sundered  many  sacred  cords.  Such  a  life 
as  his  was  an  honor  and  blessing  to  our  common  nature,  and  the 
community  in  which  he  lived  mourned  his  loss  with  no  common 
grief.  One  of  his  daughters  is  the  wife  of  Henry  H.  Anderson, 
a  prominent  lawyer  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  revelation  of  the  Schuyler  incident  shocked  the  confidence 
of  the  financial  world  and  placed  under  suspicion  every  enterprise  ' 
with  which  he  had  been  connected.  The  unfortunate  affair 
happened  at  a  critical  time  in  the  history  of  the  Illinois-Central 
Railroad  Company.  On  the  day  following  this  disaster,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Osborn  was  called  to  the  council  of  the  board  of  directors 
and  he  was  afterward  (August  u,  1854),  elected  a  member. 
On  Dec.  1,  1855,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  company.  He 
entered  with  remarkable  energy  upon  the  work  of  restoring 
public  confidence  to  this  great  enterprise.  A  resume  of  his  ser- 
vices to  the  company  and  incidentally  to  the  State,  is  given 
below : 

William  Henry  Osborn  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  Dec. 


4 


WILLIAM    HENRY   OSBORN.  63 

21,  1820,  and  received  a  high-school  education  in  that  venerable 
New- England  town.  Shortly  after  leaving  school,  he  entered 
the  counting-room  of  the  old  East- India  house  of  Peele,  Hub- 
bell  and  Company,  founded  by  J.  Willard  Peele,  engaged  in 
the  East -India  trade.  After  remaining  there  awhile,  he  was 
sent  to  Manilla,  (under  the  auspices  of  Stephen  C.  Phillips  who 
was  a  member  of  the  house),  to  represent  the  business  at  that 
place.  He  resided  there  several  years,  and  afterward  became 
the  head  of  the  firm  and  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account. 
He  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  on  his  return  to  the 
United  States  in  1853,  took  up  his  residence  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  where  he  shortly  after  married  the  daughter  of  that  most 
estimable  man  and  upright  merchant,  Jonathan  Sturges,  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Sturges,  Bennett  and  Company,  at 
that  time  one  of  the  largest  mercantile  houses  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  Mr.  Sturges  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  and  had  unbounded  faith  in 
the  future  development  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  He,  in  company 
with  other  men  of  large  means  and  reputation,  had  entered 
with  great  energy  upon  the  work  of  constructing  the  Illinois  - 
Central  Road  upon  a  sound  financial  basis.  The  high  character 
of  the  men  engaged  in  the  work  of  reviving  a  scheme  that  was 
destined  to  prove  of  such  great  advantage  to  the  State,  inspired 
confidence  both  at  home  and  abroad.  But  the  undertaking 
proved  to  be  a  more  formidable  one  than  even  the  minds  of 
those  sagacious  men  had  calculated  upon. 
L  In  1854,  while  the  work  of  construction  was  well  under  way, 
it  became  apparent  that  much  larger  expenditures  would  be 
required  than  had  been  estimated,  and  to  carry  it  through  to  a 
successful  completion  more  vigorous  measures  must  be  adopted. 
Up  to  the  end  of  1854,  only  300  miles  of  the  whole  704  miles 
to  be  built  were  completed,  and  these  in  detached  portions,  so 
that  they  were  operated  at  great  disadvantage  and  cost,  and  the 
entire  amount  of  net  earnings  derived  from  their  operation  for 
the  last  half  of  the  year  was,  as  appears  by  one  of  the  early 
reports  of  the  company,  only  $149,744.16.  While  the  road  was 
earning    so   little,    the   interest   account   on    the    bonded    debt 


64  WILLIAM    HENRY   OSBORN. 

already  incurred,  was  rolling  up  so  heavily  as  to  threaten  to 
engulf  the  whole  enterprise.  To  add  to  the  "paucity  of  events," 
the  crops  of  Illinois  in  this  year,  1854,  were  almost  a  total  failure, 
checking  the  sale  of  lands  which  had  been  donated  to  the  com- 
pany, as  well  as  diminishing  the  amount  of  collections  for  those 
already  sold.  To  add  to  the  complication  of  affairs,  the  "Schuy- 
ler fraud"  over-issue  of  the  stock  of  the  New -York -and -New- 
Haven  Railroad  Company  was  made  public  July  3,  1854,  and 
-completely  unsettled  business  affairs,  making  it  almost  impossible 
to  negotiate  railway  securities,  however  good.  (  The  director}-, 
though  composed  of  men  of  such  high  standing  in  the  community, 
were  all  residents  of  the  Eastern  States,  and  they  could  not  give 
that  close  personal  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  company  which 
its  peculiar  condition  at  that  time  so  earnestly  demanded.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  at  this  critical  juncture,  to  find  immediately 
some  one  who  could  go  to  the  scene  of  active  operations  in  Illinois 
and  personally  superintend  the  closing  up  of  the  gaps  between 
the  unfinished  portions  of  the  line,  as  economically  and  as  expe- 
ditiously as  possible,  so  that  it  could  be  placed  in  a  thoroughly 
equipped  condition  to  earn  money  for  the  shareholders.  At  that 
time,  the  demand  for  men  of  such  capacity  was  beginning  to  be 
felt  all  over  the  country,  but  in  no  instance  was  it  more  urgent 
than  in  the  case  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company.  In 
this  dark  hour  for  those  who  had  ventured  so  largely  and 
with  such  sanguine  expectations  upon  this  first  land -grant 
project,  (and  which  threatened  for  a  while  to  prove  even  more 
disastrous  than  had  other  successive  attempts  that  had  been 
made  to  construct  a  road  through  the  center  of  the  State),  Mr. 
Osborn  was  called  to  the  command,  and  took  up  for  a  time 
his  residence  in  Chicago.  It  was  a  herculean  task  imposed 
upon  him  and  one  which  would  have  daunted  almost  any  other 
man.  The  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  have  never  known 
what  a  debt  of  gratitude  they  owe  to  Mr.  Osborn  for  his  suc- 
cessful effort  in  saving  the  road  to  the  State.  It  is  perhaps  no 
exaggeration  to  say,  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  extraordinary 
exertions  made  by  him  at  that  time,  the  road  would  not  have 
been  brought  to  a  successful  completion,  certainly  not  within  the 


ASSIGNMENT   OF   THE   COMPANY.  65 

time  it  was,  for,  if  foreclosure  proceedings  had  been  instituted 
then,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  any  new  corporation  which 
might  have  been  formed  would  have  been  willing  to  accept  the 
onerous  conditions  imposed  by  the  original  charter;  and  so  in 
this  way  the  essential  advantage  in  the  matter  of  tax  on  gross 
earnings  would  have  been  lost  to  the  State. 

Even  after  the  ordeal  of  1854  had  been  safely  passed  and  the 
company's  financial  condition  greatly  improved  by  the  successful 
negotiation  by  Mr.  Osborn  of— a-terrrporary  loan  of  three  millions 
of  dollars,  new  and  unlooked  foi  difficulties  arose.  The  income 
of  the  road  had  scarcely  beemrre~~~sufficient  to  pay  its  running 
expenses,  for  the  country  along~its  line  had  not  sufficiently 
developed  to  yield  an  adequate  traffic  for  its  support  when  the 
panic  of  October,  1857,  with  allifs  disastrous  accompaniments, 
swept  over  the  country.  Mr.  Osborn  had  sailed  for  Europe  a 
month  previous.  The  financial  skies  were  comparatively  clear 
when  he  left,  but  on  October  9,  all  the  banks  in  New  York,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  and  most  of  those  through- 
out the  country,  suspended  specie  payment.  The  wheels  of 
commerce  became  clogged,  and  distrust  everywhere  so  prevailed 
that  it  was  impossible  to  negotiate  a  sterling  bill  at  any  rate 
of  exchange.  At  this  time,  Mr.  Osborn  was  in  London  in  con- 
ference with  English  bankers  with  a  view  of  placing  the  finances 
of  the  company  on  a  more  substantial  footing.  This  he  would 
have  undoubtedly  succeeded  in  accomplishing  at  once,  but  for 
the  circumstances  referred  to.  The  suddenly  changed  condition 
of  affairs  compelled  his  immediate  return  to  this  country.  The 
Atlantic  cable  was  not  in  operation  at  that  time,  and  on  his 
arrival  at  Sandy  Hook,  he  was  startled  to  read  in  the  New- 
York  papers  an  announcement  by  the  treasurer  of  the  company 
in  these  words : 

"OffTce  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Co., 
New  York,  October  9th,  1857. 

"The  Directors  of  The  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company 
are  under  the  painful  necessity  of  announcing  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  most  strenuous  exertions  to  avert  such  a  result,  the  Com- 
pany is  forced  to  suspend  payment. 
5 


66  ASSIGNMENT   OF   THE   COMPANY. 

"The  existing  derangement  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  coun- 
try surprised  the  Company  with  a  large  floating  debt  incurred  for 
the  completion  and  equipment  of  the  road.  To  provide  for  its 
payment  when  the  usual  credits  became  unavailable,  an  assess- 
ment of  ten  dollars  per  share  was  promptly  made,  and  upon  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  largely  paid  in  advance,  enabling  the  Com- 
pany to  meet  its  engagements  in  September.  The  installments 
upon  the  stock  held  abroad,  have  been  in  rapid  progress  of  pay- 
ment, but  the  negotiation  of  the  bills  of  exchange  drawn  against 
them,  difficult  at  first,  has  at  length  become  impossible. 

"All  other  and  usual  modes  of  raising  money  are  well  known  to 
be  entirely  unavailable.  It  would  be  in  vain  at  this  time  to  call 
in  another  installment  on  the  stock,  as  the  same  difficulties  which 
prevent  the  realizing  of  the  proceeds  of  the  one  already  called, 
in  season  to  meet  the  accruing  obligations  of  the  Company, 
would  attach  to  any  other  immediate  assessment. 

"The  Directors  have  therefore  yielded  to  the  stern  necessity  of 
the  case  reluctantiy,  but  with  a  clear  conviction  that  the  true 
interests  of  both  creditors  and  stockholders  would  be  promoted 
by  the  legal  steps  which,  under  the  advice  of  able  counsel,  have 
been  taken  to  secure  their  respective  rights. 

"The  coupons  due  on  the  construction  bonds,  October  i,  have 
been  paid  to  a  large  extent,  and  a  provision  has  been  made  to 
receive  the  balance  outstanding  in  payment  of  unpaid  install- 
ments, if  desired  by  the  holder.  No  serious  inconvenience  will 
probably  result  therefrom. 

"All  possible  exertions  will  be  used  to  pay  off  every  liability 
without  unnecessary  delay;  and  to  relieve  the  Company  from  its 
present  embarrassment. 

"As  this  has  not  risen  from  any  difficulties  intrinsic  in  the 
enterprise,  but  from  the  extraordinary  condition  of  the  money 
market,  the  Directors  see  therein  no  cause  to  abate  the  confidence 
they  have  heretofore  felt  and  expressed  in  the  value  of  the  road 
and  the  lands  of  the  Company.     By  order  of  the  Board, 

J.  N.  Perkins,  Treasurer." 

The  coupons  falling  due  on  the  large  bonded  debt  then  out- 
standing, were  being  presented  by  anxious  holders,  and,  to  satisfy 


RESTORATION   OF  THE  COMPANY  TO  CREDIT.        67 

these  and  to  prevent  further  complication,  Mr.  Osborn  upon  his 
personal  responsibility  —  for  the  credit  of  the  company  was 
entirely  exhausted — negotiated  loans  tora"  large  extent  from  banks 
and  individuals,  and  with  the  proceeds  paid  the  coupons  and 
held  them  until  the  company  was  able  to  redeem  them.  He 
then  provided  a  plan  for  the  reestablishment  of  the  company's 
credit  by  the  issue  of  a  new  4oan  of  about  $5,000,000.  From 
the  proceeds  all  the  outstanding,  floating  indebtedness  of  the 
company  was  paid  in  full,  principal  and  interest,  the  assignees 
discharged,  and  the  business  of  the  company  placed  once  more 
in  the  hands  of  its  officers. 

The  restoration  of  the  company  to  full  credit  had  a  very 
favorable  effect  upon  all  American  securities  abroad,  and  made 
the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  the  most  prominent  American 
corporation  in  the  eyes  of-£ng4ish  capitalists,  and,  increasing 
public  confidence  in  it,  materially  strengthened  other  com- 
panies of  a  similar  kind.  It  was  the  turning-point  in  the 
affairs  of  the  company,  and  from  that  time  on,  it  enjoyed  an 
unbroken  era  of  prosperity.  When  Mr.  Osborn  became  con- 
nected with  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  in  1854,  it 
had  a  bonded  debt  of  nearly  $20,000,000,  and  a  floating  debt 
in  addition  of  $2,500,000,  as  shown  by  the  annual  report  of  that 
year,  and  the  future  of  the  enterprise  was  an  unsolved  problem. 
When  he  retired  from  active  participation  in  its  affairs  in  1877, 
its  bonded  debt  was  $10,508,000,  the  road  was  and  had  long  been 
paying  regular  dividends,  and  it  had  a  large  amount  of  assets  on 
hand  available  for  any  contingency.  During  the  frequent  visits  of 
Mr.  Osborn  on  the  other  side,  he  had  occasion  to  consult  with 
the  large  shareholders  of  the  company,  and  in  this  way,  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  many  prominent  English  bankers  and  states- 
men. Among  these  was  Richard  Cobden,  who  had  first  visited 
Illinois  in  1855,  and  passed  over  a  portion  of  the  proposed  line 
and  who,  when  he  saw  the  beautiful  prairie  and  examined  its 
fertile  soil,  became  an  enthusiast  as  to  the  prospective  value  of 
the  property;  so  much  so,  that  he  invested  nearly  all  his  money 
in  it.  Morley,  in  his  life  of  Cobden,  refers  to  a  visit  made  by  Mr. 
Osborn  to  the  great  premier  in   1858,  whom  he  found  in  a  per- 


68         ORGANIZATION  .OF   THE   LAND   DEPARTMENT. 

turbed  state  of  mind  regarding  his  holding  of  Illinois  -  Central 
shares,  and  whom  he  aided  with  his  friendly  counsel. 

In  1858,  the  troubles  of  the  previous  year  were  aggravated 
by  another  failure  of  the  crops.  This  bore  heavily  upon  the  new 
settlers  on  the  company's  lands,  most  of  whom  had  made  only 
their  first  payment.  The  result  was  that  many  of  them  became 
so  impoverished  in  their  resources  that  they  were  almost  objects 
of  charity.  Not  a  few  were  entirely  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Private  contributions  of  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  provisions 
were  made  by  the  directors  of  the  company  and  sent  to  various 
points  on  the  line  to  relieve  cases  of  actual  suffering.  From 
1 86 1  on,  owing  to  the  great  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
country  and  the  consequent  rapid  settlement  of  the  company's 
lands,  regular  dividends  were  paid  on  its  shares.  Mr.  Osborn 
occupied  the  position  of  president  of  the  company  from  Dec.  1, 
1855  to  July  n,  1865,  and  was  a  director  from  Aug.  11,  1854  to 
May  30,  1877,  so  that  he  practically  continued  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  company's  affairs  for  twenty-two  years,  a  manage- 
ment that  was  characterized  by  prudence  and  conservatism, 
remarkable  skill  and  executive  ability,  firm  and  unceasing  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  the  company,  indomitable  will  and  cour- 
age, and,  above  all,  strict  integrity  of  purpose. 

Mr.  Osborn  retired  from  active  business  a  few  years  since.  He 
now  spends  much  of  his  time  at  his  country-seat,  Wing-on-Wing, 
at  Garrisons-on-the-Hudson,  which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
on  the  river.  His  time  in  the  city  is  largely  occupied  in  benevo- 
lent work,  taking  a  deep  interest  in  the  Institution  for  Ruptured 
and  Crippled  Children  and  the  Training  -  School  for  Nurses 
attached  to  Bellevue  Hospital. 

|   ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   LAND    DEPARTMENT. 

All  the  requirements  of  the  act  of  incorporation  having  been 
complied  with,  the  deed  conveying  the  lands  from  the  State  of 
Illinois  to  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company  was  executed 
March  24,  1851,  by  his  excellency  Augustus  C.  French,  governor 
of  the  State.  Simultaneously  with  the  delivery  of  the  deed,  a 
deed  of  trust  was  executed  by  the  president  of  the  company  to 


JOHN   MOORE.  69 

Morris  Ketchum,  John  Moore,  and  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  con- 
veying, to  them  in  trust,  all  the  lands  granted  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States  under  the  act  of  congress  referred  to,  and 
all  the  other  property  of  the  company,  as  security  to  the  State 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  work  to  be  undertaken,  and  to 
secure  the  bonds  to  be  issued.  This  was  an  important  trust  and 
it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  interests  of  the  State  that 
it  should  be  confided  to  those  who  would  wisely  and  faithfully 
administer  it  on  its  behalf,  and  probably  not  in  the  whole  State 
of  Illinois  could  there  have  been  found  two  more  fit  persons 
for  this  purpose  than  John  Moore  and  Samuef  D.  Lockwood. 

John  Moore  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  having  been  born 
at  Grantham,  Lincolnshire,  Sept.  8,  1793.  Up  to  his  fourteenth 
year,  he  attended  the  common  school  and  all  his  subsequent 
education  was  obtained  without  a  teacher.  He  often  studied 
while  at  his  work  at  his  trade  as  a  wheelwright,  to  which  he  was 
apprenticed  at  an  early  age.  In  181 7,  he  sailed  for  America. 
He  settled  first  in  Virginia  but  remained  there  but  a  short  time, 
when  he  removed  to  Harrison,  Hamilton  County,  Ohio;  here  he 
worked  at  his  trade;  March  9,  1820,  he  married  a  Kentucky 
lady,  a  Mrs.  Misner.  They  had  a  family  of  eight  children.  In 
October,  1830,  he  moved  to  McLean  County,  Illinois,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  at  Randolph  Grove.  There  he  entered  forty 
acres  of  land  and  afterward  purchased  considerable  more  land, 
and  did  some  farming.  He  also  worked  at  his  trade;  and  here  he 
endured  the  privations  to  which  all  the  early  settlers  were  sub- 
jected. In  1831,  he  was  elected  a  justice-of-the-peace,  this  being 
the  first  office  he  held.  In  1835,  he  was  elected  to  the  legisla- 
ture, which  then  held  its  sessions  at  Vandalia.  In  1839,  he  was 
elected  to  the  senate  of  the  State  and  in  1840,  he  was  elected 
lieutenant-governor:  this  office  he  held  up  to  1846.  At  the 
close  of  his  term,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War,  he 
enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  4th  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers, 
which  he  had  been  active  in  forming,  and  was  almost  immediately 
chosen  lieutenant-colonel;  he  bravely  and  honorably  served  dur- 
ing that  war  and  participated  in  several  engagements  —  Cerro 


JO  SAMUEL   D.   LOCKWOOD. 

Gordo,  Rio  Grande,  and  Vera  Cruz.  When  he  returned  from 
the  Mexican  war,  the  State  of  Illinois  presented  him  with  a  sword 
to  show  its  appreciation  of  his  distinguished  services.  In  1848, 
he  was  appointed  state  treasurer  by  Governor  French,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Milton  Carpenter.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  term  in  1850,  he  was  elected  to  hold  the  same 
office  and  was  reelected  in  1852.  In  1854,  he  was  again  a  can- 
didate, but  was  defeated  on  account  of  an  absurd  prejudice  which 
sprang  up  at  that  time  against  foreigners.  In  1853,  Mr.  Moore 
was  appointed  by  Gov.  Matteson  to  settle  the  difficulty  between 
the  State  of  Illinois  and  the  firm  of  Thompson  and  Foreman, 
growing  out  of  a  contract  by  which  that  firm  was  to  deliver  to 
the  State  of  Illinois  a  certain  amount  of  railroad  iron.  This 
difficulty  was  arranged  by  Mr.  Moore  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  all  parties.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  in  185 1,  and  held  that  posi- 
tion up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1866. 

Mr.  Moore  was  nearly  six  feet  in  height  and  heavily  built  ^ 
his  shoulders  were  broad,  and  his  carriage  erect  and  his  com- 
plexion ruddy.  His  health  was  remarkably  good,  and  this  doubt- 
less contributed  to  his  cheerful,  happy  disposition.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  natural  force  of  character  and  an  honest  man,  and  was 
familiarly  known  throughout  the  State  as  "Honest  John  Moore." 
The  State  of  Illinois  never  had  a  more  faithful  guardian  of  her 
interests.  His  power  of  memory  and  of  conversation  was  wonder- 
ful. He  was  a  fine  presiding  officer  and  the  chair  of  the  senate 
has  never  been  filled  by  a  more  accomplished  parliamentarian. 
His  death,  which  occurred  at  Boston,  Sept.  23,  1866,  was  the 
result  of  a  surgical  operation  performed  upon  his  eyes  for  cata- 
ract. His  remains  were  interred  in  the  old  burying -ground  at 
Randolph  Grove.* 

Judge  Samuel  Drake  Lockwood  was  born  at  Poundridge, 
Westchester  County,  New  York,  August  2,  1789;  when  quite 
young,  his  father  died,  leaving  his  mother  with  three  small  children 

*  "Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County,  Illinois,"  by  Dr.  E.  Duis,  Bloom- 
ington,  1874. 


SAMUEL   D.   LOCKWOOD.  7 1 

and  with  but  slender  means  of  support;  by  this  event,  Samuel's 
plans  for  a  liberal  education  were  broken  up  and  he  was  thrown 
upon  his  own  resources.  At  twelve  years  of  age,  he  spent  a  few 
months  at  a  private  school  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  says  of  him- 
self, "I  acquired  some  knowledge  of  arithmetic  and  enough  of 
Latin  to  be  able  to  decline  a  few  nouns  and  conjugate  a  few 
verbs."  Lessons  in  arithmetic  were  given  orally  and  written  out 
by  the  pupils.  In  1803,  he  went  to  live  with  his  mother's  brother, 
Francis  Drake,  a  lawyer  of  Waterford,  New  York,  where  he 
remained  as  a  law-student  until  February,  181 1,  when  he  was 
licensed  to  practise  law  and  opened  an  office  in  Batavia,  New 
York.  It  may  be  said  of  Judge  Lockwood  as  was  said  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  that  he  never  had  a  boyhood.  In  early  years,  he 
met  the  stern  realities  of  life  which  left  no  time  for  boyish  or 
manly  sports,  and,  as  a  consequence,  he  had  no  relish  for  such 
things.  But  he  was  preeminently  a  home  man,  in  full  sympathy 
with  everything  that  would  increase  the  happiness  of  home,  and 
bring  enjoyment  to  the  family  circle.  The  first  four  years  of  his 
professional  life  was  a  hard  struggle  with  disease  and  pecuniary 
embarrassment.  In  a  new  country,  he  found  the  legal  profession 
well  filled  and  in  it  some  men  of  reputation  and  experience — 
able  to  absorb  all  the  business. 

On  March  12,  181 3,  however,  he  was  appointed  master  in 
chancery  by  Gov.  Tompkins,  a  circumstance  which,  as  he  wrote 
to  his  father,  enabled  him,  with  his  other  practice,  to  support 
himself  decently  and  to  pay  the  debts  he  had  contracted  before 
he  got  into  business.  This  period  included  the  war  time,  when 
everything  was  depressed  to  the  lowest  point.  Judge  Lockwood 
naturally  diffident  and  retiring,  feeble  in  physical  constitution, 
with  a  tendency  to  self- depreciation,  and  far  separated  from  all 
family  friends,  must  have  passed  through  many  trials,  and  his 
final  success  is  an  evidence  of  that  sterling  worth  of  character 
with  which  in  after  life  he  was  universally  credited.  From  a 
letter  to  his  mother,  written  in  May,  181 5,  we  learn  that  he 
remained  in  Batavia  about  a  year,  then  removed  to  Auburn  in 
that  year  and  practiced  law  with  George  B.  Throop  until  the  fall 
of   1 818,  when   he  started  for  Illinois,  reaching  Shawneetown, 


72  LOCKWOOD'S   REMOVAL   TO   ILLINOIS. 

December  20.  He  made  the  journey  in  company  with  William 
H.  Brown  and  others  on  a  flat-boat  down  the  Alleghany  and 
Ohio  rivers.  From  Shawneetown,  Lockwood  and  Brown  made 
the  trip  to  Kaskaskia,  a  distance  of  120  miles,  on  foot  and 
arrived  December  26,  entire  strangers  to  the  country.  On 
their  way,  they  were  met  by  two  young  men  bound  for  the  same 
place.  These  were  Thomas  Mather  and  Sidney  Breese,  both 
from  New  York.  Judge  Lockwood  remained  in  Kaskaskia  a 
year,  and  then  removed  to  Carmi,  spending  a  year  there.  In 
182 1,  at  the  second  session  of  the  legislature  held  at  Vandalia, 
he  was  elected  attorney-general.  This  election  to  office  necessi- 
tated his  removal  to  Edwardsville.  In  1822,  Governor  Coles 
appointed  him  secretary  of  state,  but  in  the  same  year,  President 
Monroe  appointed  him  receiver  of  public  moneys  at  Edwardsville 
and  he  accepted  the  latter  position.  In  1823,  he  was  appointed 
an  agent  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners.  In  1824,  he  was 
elected  associate  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  and  in  1824-5, 
assisted  in  a  revision  of  the  criminal  code  of  the  State  which, 
with  few  amendments,  has  continued  in  force  ever  since.  He 
remained  on  the  bench  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  state  con- 
stitution in  1848.  Judge  Lockwood  was  therefore  a  resident  of 
Illinois  from  181 8  to  1874,  and  for  over  fifty  years  was  in  public 
service,  holding  during  that  period,  under  state  and  national 
appointment,  the  following  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility, 
attorney-general,  secretary  of  state,  receiver  of  public  moneys  in 
the  Edwardsville  land -office,  associate  justice  of  the  supreme 
court.  He  was  state  trustee  of  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad 
from  the  organization  oi  that  company  until  his  death  in  1874, 
and  was  charter  trustee  in  each  of  the  state  institutions  estab- 
lished for  the  benefit  of  the  insane,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  blind. 
This  brief  outline  indicates  something  of  Judge  Lockwood's 
standing  in  the  State,  something  of  the  esteem  with  which  he 
was  regarded  by  his  fellow-citizens,  and  something  of  the  influ- 
ence he  must  have  exerted  in  that  period  of  our  State  history, 
when  a  few  of  our  good  and  wise  men  were  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  those  civil,  social,  and  educational  institutions,  which 
have  secured  for  us  our  present  prosperity  and  are  a  standing 


MORRIS   KETCHUM,    TRUSTEE.  73 

proof  of  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  the  great  men  into  whose 
labor  we  have  entered. 

Dr.  Edward  Beecher,  president  of  the  Illinois  College  from 
1830  to  1844, 'now  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  writing  of  Judge 
Lockwood,  says:  "During  an  acquaintance  of  over  twenty  years, 
of  which  fourteen  associated  me  with  him  as  a  trustee  of  Illinois 
College,  I  have  seen  in  him  incorruptible  integrity  and  wisdom 
as  a  counsellor  in  all  things,  with  an  unwavering  devotion  to 
sound  principles  and  the  public  good  in  every  position  he  held. 
His  life,  in  all  its  relations,  public  and  social,  was  spotless,  and  I 
think  he  had  the  entire  confidence  and  warm  affection  of  the 
community  in  which  he  lived." 

Dr.  T.  M.  Post  of  St.  Louis,  writes:  "He  was  a  man  I  felt 
happy  and  honored  to  regard  as  a  friend  to  the  close  of  his  life. 
There  was  in  his  character  a  rare  blending  of  elements,  a 
modesty,  gentleness,  and  delicacy,  well-nigh  feminine,  and  great 
general  kindliness,  combined  with  intrepid  firmness  of  principle, 
a  large  practical  wisdom,  distinguished  judicial  ability  and  integ- 
rity, and  a  personal  purity  and  honor  as  stainless  as  a  star." 

Mr.  Coffin,  in  his  biography,  says:  "He  was  eminently  wise  in 
counsel,  earnest  and  perservering  in  action,  faithful  and  honest  in 
every  position  of  trust;  dignified  in  deportment,  kind  and  tender 
in  all  friendly  relations,  with  a  loyalty  to  truth  and  right,  com- 
manding the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  him,  irrespective  of  all 
party  or  sectarian  difference.* 

The  State  had  the  appointment  of  two  trustees  of  the  lands  and 
the  railroad  company  "one;  the  latter  selected  Morris  Ketchum  of 
the  barrktfTg-house  of  Ketchum,  Rogers  and  Bement  of  New  York, 
who  was  also  the  second  treasurer  of  the  company.  He  was  a 
brother  to  Hiram  Ketchum,  the  celebrated  lawyer.  Mr.  Edward 
Bement  of  the  same  banking-house  being  the  first  treasurer  elected. 
Mr.  Ketchum  was  also  connected  with  the  locomotive  works  of 
Rogers,  Ketchum  and  GrosvenoFbf  Patterson,  New  Jersey,  who 
supplied  the  first  one  hundred  locomotives  used  by  the  company ; 
he  was  also  interested  in  the  New-York -and-New-Haven  Railroad 
Company,  and  was  the  author  of  the  plan  of  raising  money  on 

*  "Life  and  Times  of  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,"  by  Samuel  Coffin,  1890. 


74  LAND   COMMISSIONERS. 

41 preferred  stock,"  the  first  issue  of  which  was  made  by  that 
company  during  Mr.  Ketchum's  connection  with  it.  It  was  a 
clever  device  invented  to  enable  railway  companies  to  raise  money 
without  increasing  their  mortgage  debt,  and,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  apparently  weakened,  it  did  not  necessarily  impair  the 
value  ot  the  common  stock.  The  land-commissioners  have  been 
John  C.  Dodge,  who  took  part  in  the  platting  and  selection  of 
the  lands;  John  Wilson,  formerly  land-commissioner  of  the  gen- 
eral land- office,  Washington;  John  W.  Foster,  author  of  the 
"Mound  Builders,"  and  other  geological  works;  Chas.  M.  Dupuy, 
Walter  M.  Phillips,  John  B.  Calhoun,  and  Peter  Daggy;  L.  P. 
Morehouse  is  the  present  incumbent.  His  long  and  faithful 
service  in  the  engineering  department  was  rewarded  by  his 
appointment  as  land-commissioner.  Mr.  Daggy,  though  retired 
as  commissioner  upon  a  liberal  pension,  still  continues  to  act  as 
secretary  of  the  land  department. 
>  /  Of  the  lands  entrusted  to  them,  the  soil  for  the  most  part  was 
of  a  rich,  black,  deep  mould,  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  capable  of 
producing  in  the  greatest  abundance  wheat,  rye,  corn,  oats,  and 
fruits,  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds.  But,  with  all  their  produc- 
tiveness, the  quarries  and  mineral  wealth  had  remained  compara- 
tively unsettled  and  uncultivated  until  this  road  was  constructed, 
and  would  have  continued  so  in  all  probability  for  many  years  to 
come,  but  for  the  facilities  of  travel  and  transportation  furnished 
by  it.  These  lands  had  been  in  the  market  subject  to  private 
entry  for  a  third  of  a  century  at  a  mere  nominal  value,  and  yet 
in  very  few  instances  were  purchasers  found  for  them.  Remote 
from  markets,  without  facilities  for  transportation,  and  with  roads 
almost  impassable,  the  cost  of  handling  the  products  of  the  lands 
to  a  market,  and  the  time  employed  therein,  amounted  almost  to 
as  much  as  the  value  of  the  land. 

The  total  grant  of  land  to  the  State  of  Illinois  was  2,595,000 
acres  which  were  donated  to  the  company,  being  at  the  rate  of 
3700  acres  per  mile.  The  grant  of  lands  referred  to  was  not, 
strictly  speaking,  the  first  act  of  congress  making  a  grant  of  lands 
-directly  and  specifically  to  aid  railroad  building,  but  was  among 
the  first  in  importance.     Of  the  land  donated  by  the  State  to  the 


PRE-EMPTION   CLAIMANTS.  75 

Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company,  107,614  acres  were  first  con- 
veyed to  preemption  claimants.  Gov.  Joel  A.  Matteson,  in  his 
inaugural  message  to  tne  eighteenth  general  assembly,  convened 
Jan.  3,  1853,  referring  to  this,  says:  "I  have  not  heard  that  any 
settler  upon  the  company's  land  has  had  occasion  to  complain, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  when  the  time  by  law  had  passed  for  prov- 
ing preemptions  upon  the  company's  land  by  the  settler  upon  the 
lands,  the  company  took  no  advantage  and  allowed  the  lands  to 
be  entered  on  proof  being  made,  the  same  as  if  directed  by  law. 
This  course  pursued  in,  can  not  fail  to  awaken  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  of  this  State  strong  feelings  of  reciprocal  good-will." 
The  rapid  settlement  of  the  railroad  lands  stimulated  the  sale  of 
the  government  lands,  alternate  sections,  which  for  years  had 
been  in  market,  but  remained  unsold,  though  for  a  considerable 
time  they  could  have  been  obtained  with  land-warrants  at  about 
one-half  the  government  price.  After  the  location  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad,  a  large  portion  of  them  were  immediately  sold 
for  from  $2.50  to  $5  an  acre,  and  the  line  of  the  road  began  to 
fill  up  with  hardy  and  enterprising  settlers,  enabling  the  govern- 
ment to  close  its  land-offiges.  Up  to  January  1,  1890,  of  the 
lands  donated  to  the  company,  2,456,829  acres  had  been  dis- 
posed of  to  about  30,000  actual  settlers,  yielding  $28,742,002.93. 
The  population  of  the  State  when  the  grant  was  made  was 
851,470.  The  population  of  Chicago  was  less  than  40,000.  By 
the  recent  census  (1890)  it  is  found  to  be  over  1,100,000. 

The  landed  interest  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  regarded  as  of  ^ 
greater  importance  and  value  than  the  railroad  itself.     Said  a      / 
member  of  the  English  Parliament  —  the  Hon.  Lawrence  Hey- 
Avorth  of  Liverpool — who  visited  Illinois  in  1856,  and  went  over 
the  line  of  railway  shortly  after  its  completion,  "This  is  not  a 
railway  company;  it  is  a  land  company,"  and  so  impressed  was    ' 
he  with  the  future  value  of  the  lands,  that  he  went  back  to  New 
York  and  gave  his  bankers  a  carte-blanche  to  purchase  all  the 
Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company's  shares  that  were  offered  for 
sale,  and  they  did  not  stop  purchasing  until  they  had  acquired 
for  his  account  an  interest  amounting  to  over  $1,000,000.      I 
mention  this  to  show  how  pleasing  a  picture  the  beautiful  open 


?6  EFFORTS  TO  SETTLE  THE  LANDS. 

prairies  of  our  State  presented  to  the  eye  of  a  foreigner  at  that 
time,  and  what  a  deep  impression  they  made  upon  his  mind. 
But  Mr.  Heyworth  failed  to  reap  pecuniary  advantage  from  his 
investment,  for  the  reason  that,  like  the  projectors  already  referred 
to,  he  had  anticipated  too  much.  The  country  indeed  made  the 
railroad,  but  the  railroad  did  not  respond  quickly  enough  in 
making  the  country.  The  promise  of  the  enormous  traffic,  that 
it  was  believed  these  lands  would  supply  to  the  railway,  was  not 
fulfilled  soon  enough  to  yield  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  the  early 
matured  interest  on  the  debt.  The  estimates  and  predictions 
made  by  the  friends  of  the  road  told  a  flattering  tale  of  wealth, 
and  indeed  they  were  all  realized,  but  not  within  the  time 
expected.  The  difficulty  was  that  these  rich  promises  pre- 
supposed a  larger  emigration  to  the  State  and  a  more  rapid 
settlement  upon  the  lands  than  could  possibly  take  place  within 
the  time  specified.  The  cry  went  out  to  the  farmers  of  England- 
Germany,  Sweden,  Norway,  Holland,  and  other  countries,  at  the 
cost  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  to  come  over  and  settle  in  this 
new  and  beautiful  country,  but  for  a  time  it  was  scarcely  heeded. 
Special  agents  were  employed  to  go  to  these  countries  to  explain 
the  advantages  of  settling  in  our  State,  and  pamphlets  printed 
in  their  respective  languages,  describing  the  attractiveness  of  the 
country  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  were  scattered  broadcast  over 
Europe.  The  dismal  failure  of  Morris  Birkbeck  and  others  to 
establish  English  colonies  in  Illinois  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  many  of  the  English  farmers,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  they 
could  not  be  induced  to  leave  the  mother  country.  The  kind 
words  spoken  of  Illinois  by  Birkbeck  in  his  "Letters  from 
Illinois,"  and  "Notes  on  a  Journey  to  America,"  both  published 
in  1818,  were  savagely  attacked  by  other  Englishmen  who  warned 
their  countrymen  not  to  be  deluded  by  his .  statements.  Later 
on,  however,  many  Scandinavians,  Poles,  and  a  few  Germans 
and  Russians,  found  their  way  over  and  located  upon  these  lands, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  were  settled  by  people  from  the 
adjoining,  and  older  Eastern  states,  who  were  perhaps  better 
qualified  to  judge  of  their  resources  and  could  cultivate  them  to 
greater  advantage. 


i 


MEMORIAL   FOR   CHARTER.  77 

MEMORIAL   FOR   CHARTER. 

On  January  15,  185 1,  Governor  Augustus  C.  French  sent  a 
communication  to  the  house  of  representatives  transmitting  a 
memorial  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy:* 

"To  the  honorable  the  senators  and  representatives  of  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  general  assembly  convened: 

"The  memorial  of  Robert  Schuyler,  George  Griswold,  Gouvern- 
eur  Morris,  Jonathan  Sturges,  Thomas  W.  Ludlow,  and  John  F. 
A.  Sanford  of  the  city  of  New  York;  and  of  David  A.  Neal, 
Franklin  Haven,  and  Robert  Rantoul,  jr.,  of  the  city  of  Boston 
and  vicinity,  respectfully  represents : 

"That,  having  examined  and  considered  an  act  of  congress  of 
the  United  States,  whereby  land  is  donated  by  the  United  States 
for  the  purpose  of  insuring  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
Cairo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River,  to  Galena  and  the  north- 
western angle  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  with  a  branch  extending 
to  Chicago  on  Lake  Michigan,  on  certain  conditions,  therein 
expressed;  and,  having  examined  also  the  resources  of  the  tract 
of  country  through  which  it  is  proposed  that  the  said  railroad 
shall  pass,  and  the  amount  of  cost,  and  the  space  of  time  neces- 
sary for  constructing  the  same,  the  subscribers  propose  to  form  a 
company,  with  such  others  as  they  may  associate  with  them, 
including  among  their  number  persons  of  large  experience  in  the 
construction  of  several  of  the  principal  railroads  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  means  and  credit  sufficient  to  place  beyond  doubt 

*  Although  this  was  the  only  plan  for  the  completion  of  the  road  submitted 
to  the  legislature,  another  plan  was  seriously  agitated  by  some  of  the  leading 
men  in  the  State  in  conjunction  with  certain  men  in  New  York,  who  had 
figured  considerably  in  Illinois  matters,  and  a  bill  was  prepared  in  accordance 
therewith.  The  design  was  to  have  the  State  virtually  control  the  road,  and 
one  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill  was  that  the  stock  should  be  made  a  basis 
for  banking  under  any  law  establishing  a  general  system  of  banking.  There 
were  other  curious  provisions  which  are  interesting  as  showing  the  condition 
of  things  at  that  time,  and  especially  the  opinions  of  men  as  to  the  best  means 
of  raising  millions  of  money  by  a  bankrupt  State.  The  press  of  the  State 
discountenanced  the  project  and  favored  giving  the  lands  to  actual  settlers. 
The  bill  for  this  project  may  be  found  in  the  Chicago  Daily  Democrat  of  Jan. 
11,  1851. 


.,/ 


78  MEMORIALISTS. 

their  ability  to  perform  what  they  hereinafter  propose,  make  the 
following  offer  to  the  state  of  Illinois  for  their  consideration : 

"The  company  so  formed  by  the  subscribers  will,  under  the 
authority  and  direction  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  fully  and  faith- 
fully perform  the  several  conditions,  and  execute  the  trusts,  in  the 
said  act  of  congress  contained.  And  will  build  a  railroad  with 
branches  between  the  termini  set  forth  in  said  act,  with  a  single 
track,  and  complete  the  same,  ready  for  the  transportation  of 
merchandise  and  passengers,  on  or  before  the  fourth  day  of  July, 
which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty- four.  And  the  said  railroad  shall  be,  in  all  respects,  as  well 
and  thoroughly  built  as  the  railroad  running  from  Boston  to 
Albany,  with  such  improvements  thereon  as  experience  has  shown 
to  be  desirable  and  expedient,  and  shall  be  equipped  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  the  business  to  be  accommodated  thereby.  And  the 
said  company,  from  and  after  the  completion  of  the  said  road, 

will  pay  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  annually, *  per  cent  of  the 

gross  earnings  of  the  said  railroad,  without  deduction  or  charge 
for  expenses,  or  for  any  other  matter  or  cause ;  provided,  that  the 
State  of  Illinois  will  grant  to  the  subscribers  a  charter  of  incor- 
poration, with  rms  mutually  advantageous  with  powers  and 
limitations,  as  ihey,  in  their  wisdom,  may  think  ht,  as  shall  be 
accepted  by  said  company,  and  as  will  sufficiently  remunerate 
the  s..L.scribers  for  their  care,  labor,  and  expenditure  in  that 
b<  Half  incurred,  and  will  enable  them  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
lands  donated  by  the  said  act  to  raise  the  funds,  or  some  portion 
of  the  funds,  necessary  for  the  construction  and  equipment  of 
said  railroad. 

"Robert  Schuyler,  Dav.  A.  Neal, 

George  Griswold,  Robert  Rantoul,  jr., 

gouverneur  morris,       jona.  sturges, 

of  Morrisania,     Thos.  W.  Ludlow, 
Franklin  Haven,  John  F.  A.  Sanford. 

"December  28,  1850." 

It  was  laid  on  the  table  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

*  John  Wentworth  said  that  it  was  proposed  to  fill  this  in  ten  per  cent  but 
that  he  opposed  it. 


INTRODUCTION    OF   ACT.  79 

On  January  14,  1851,  Asahel  Gridley  introduced  in  the  senate 
a  bill  for  an  "act  to  incorporate  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad 
Company,"  which  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  internal- 
improvements.  .  After  various  decisions  and  references  from  day 
to  day,  James  L.  D.  Morrison,  on  February  5,  following,  offered 
a  substitute  for  the  original  bill,  to  which  varions  amendments 
were  offered,  aud,  on  the  next  day,  February  6,  it  was  finally 
passed  in  the  senate  by  a  vote  of  23  to  2.  Four  days  later  — 
February  10,  1851,  it  passed  the  house  of  representatives  by  a 
vote  of  72  to  2.  The  final  passage  of  the  bill  was  celebrated  in 
Chicago  by  the  firing  of  cannon  and  other  demonstrations  in 
honor  of  the  event.  That  clause  in  the  charter  making  the 
governor  of  the  State  an  ex-officio  officer  was  suggested  by  John 
Wgntworth. 

The  incorporators  named  were,  George  Griswold,  Franklin 
Haven,  David  A.  Neal,  Jonathan  Sturges,  Joseph  W.  Alsop, 
Robert  Rantoul,  jr.,  John  F.  A.  Sanford,  Leroy  M.  Wiley,  Robt. 
Schuyler,  Henry  Grinnell,  William  H.  Aspinwall,  Thomas  W. 
Ludlow,  and  Gouverneur  Morris.  The  four  last  named  never 
took  a  very  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  company.  Of 
the  others  who  formed  a  part  of  the  first  board  of  directors,  the 
most  active  and  prominent  were  Messrs.  Sturges,  Alsop,  Gris- 
wold, Neal,  and  Sanford.  Of  the  original  board  of  directors, 
but  one  survives,  Mr.  Haven. 

The  act  was-  accepted  by  the  company,  March  19,  1851. 
The  cjiarter  was  a  special  one,  and  in  its  bearing  upon  the 
future  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  State,  probably  the  most 
important  it  ever  granted.  It  conferred — as  was  supposed  at  the 
time — valuable  privileges,  although  it  exacted  unusual  benefits  in 
return.  Among  the  privileges  granted  were  those  contained  in 
the  eighth  section,  which  authorized  the  board  of  directors  to 
establish  such  rates  of  toll  for  the  conveyance  of  persons  and 
property  as  they  should,  from  time  to  time,  determine.  A  singu- 
lar provision  in  relation  to  this  right  to  fix  rates  was,  that  it  was 
to  be  governed  by  the  by-laws  of  the  company.  The  language 
of  the  charter  is,  "as  they  shall  from  time  to  time  by  their  by- 
J.aws  determine."     Ordinarily,  the  object  of  a  by-law  is  to  serve 


/ 


£- 


80  WORK   OF   CONSTRUCTION   COMMENCED. 

as  a  regulation  of  a  society  or  corporation  in  a  manner  agreed 
upon  by  the  members,  but,  as  rates  of  transportation  are  neces- 
sarily frequently  changed,  to  make  them  valid  and  binding  in  this 
particular  case,  would  necessitate  as  frequent  a  change  of  the  by- 
laws, and  as  this  could  only  be  done  by  the  board  of  directors, 
it  would  require  an  assembling  of  that  body  so  often  as  to 
practically  make  it  a  freight  -  and  -  passenger  department  of  the 
company.  Had  any  one  of  the  corporators  supposed  for  a 
moment,  that  the  day  would  ever  come  when  this  right  to  fix 
rates  would  be  questioned,  and  that  the  highest  court  in  the  land 
would  decide  that  the  police  power  of  the  State  must  override 
the  right  to  fix  rates,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  charter 
would  have  been  accepted  at  the  time  it  was,  and  the  road  would 
not  probably  have  been  constructed  for  many  years  after.        • 

The  work  of  constructing  700  consecutive  miles  of  railroad 
was  about  to  be  commenced.  Although  overshadowed  by  more 
modern  achievements,  it  was  a  gigantic  undertaking  for  that  day, 
and  not  a  few  of  those  who  had  witnessed  previous  failures, 
believed  that  a  similar  fate  awaited  this.  The  mortgage  upon 
2,000,000  acres  of  the  lands  and  the  property  of  the  company, 
to  secure  an  issue  of  construction  bonds  amounting  to  $17,000,- 
'  000,  was  executed  September  13,  185 1.  Of  these,  $5,000,000 
were  negotiated  in  London,  and  such  was  the  confidence  reposed 
in  the  directory  of  the  company  that  the  bonds  were  eagerly 
taken  up  at  a  premium  before  construction  work  was  fairly  com- 
menced. The  bonds  carried  with  them  the  right  to  subscribe  to 
the  share  capital  in  the  proportion  of  ten  shares  to  each  bond, 
and  as  the  outlook  for  the  shares  was  very  promising  at  the  time, 
this  proved  a  very  popular  feature.  At  this  time,  the  bonds  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  were  selling  at  a  large  discount,  so  that  in  the 
Eastern  States  confidence  in  any  Illinois  project  was  too  limited  to 
command  any  financial  aid  in  that  direction.  At  this  time  and 
for  many  years  after,  foreign  capital  was  sought  to  carry  out  all 
the  leading  enterprises  in  the  West.- 

Among  the  first  and  largest  expenditures  made  were  those 
for  procuring  the  right  of  way  into  the  City  of  Chicago.     Thic 


RIGRT   OF   WAV — VALENTINE   SCRIP.  8 1 

difficult  task  was  entrusted  to  James  F.  Joy  and  Mason  Bray- 
man,  who  first  procured  from  the  common  council  on  June 
14,  1852  (Walter  Smith  Gurnee,  being  then  mayor  of  the  city) 
an  ordinance  granting  permission  to  the  company  "to  lay 
down,  construct,  ani  maintain  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  and  along  the  margin  of  the  lake  within  and  adjacent 
to  the  same,  a  railroad  with  one  or  more  tracks."  This  ordinance 
was  confirmed  by  an  agreement  entered  into  between  the  railroad 
company  and  the  city  of  Chicago,  March  28,  1853.  Lands  for 
depot  purposes,  north  of  Randolph  Street,  were  acquired  by 
purchase  from  the  United  -  States  government  and  from  private 
owners,*  and  the  right  of  '■vay  south  of  Park  Row  was  obtained 
by  purchase  and  through  condemnation  proceedings.  The  com- 
pany afterward  acquired  by  purchase  most  of  the  riparian  rights 
pertaining  to  the  lands. 

On  March  22,  1851,  the  board  of  directors  by  a  unanimous 

*  Various  and  persistent  attempts  have  been  made  by  different  parties 
representing  the  heirs  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien,  Mark  Noble,  and  others, 
to  get  possession  of  the  lands  in  fractional  southwest  quarter  of  section  10, 
extending  north  and  south  of  Randolph  Street. 

April  5,  1872,  under  a  special  act  of  congress,  there  was  issued  to  Thos. 
B.  Valentine  and  wife,  of  San  Francisco,  scrip  for  about  13,000  acres  of 
land,  in  pieces  of  forty  acres  each,  in  consideration  of  their  having  quit- 
claimed to  the  United  States  a  similar  quantity  of  land  in  the  county  of 
Sonoma,  near  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  to  which  Valentine  had  acquired 
some  title.  These  lands  were  included  in  what  was  known  as  the  "Miranda 
Grant"  (granted  in  1844  to  Juan  Miranda,  and  from  whom  Valentine  had 
received  his  title),  which  the  government  had  inadvertently  disposed  of. 

The  scrip  received  from  the  government  was  locatable  on  any  public  lands 
(not  mineral)  unappropriated  and  unoccupied.  October  18,  1875,  Valentine 
filed  a  claim  in  the  land-office  at  Springfield,  111.,  on  fractional  section  10, 
claiming  that  it  was  public  land  and  that  he  was  entitled  to  a  patent  there- 
for. This  was  the  first  location  attempted  on  the  company's  depot-grounds 
under  "Valentine  Scrip."  Feb.  12,  1878,  he  applied  to  the  commissioner 
of  the  general  land -office  for  a  patent;  the  application  was  allowed,  and  the 
patent  ordered  to  be  issued.  An  appeal  was  taken  by  the  City  of  Chicago 
(which  claimed  an  interest  in  a  portion  of  the  ground)  to  the  secretary  of 
the  interior,  Hon.  Carl  Schurz.  February  28,  1879,  the  secretary  reversed 
the  decision  of  the  commissioner,  on  the  ground  that  no  part  of  section  10 
was  "  public  land  "  upon  which  scrip  of  such  character  could  be  located ; 
that  it  could  only  be  located  upon  "  lands  that  are  in  a  state  of  nature. " 

6 


\ 


82      JOURNEY   TO   ILLINOIS — ENGINEERS   APPOINTED. 

resolution  appointed  Roswell  B  Mason  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.r 
engineer  -  in  -  chief  with  jurisdiction  over  the  entire  line.  No 
person  could  have  been  selected  better  qualified  for  the  work. 
Mr.  Mason  was  born  Sept.  19,  1805,  in  the  cown  of  New  Hart- 
ford, Oneida  County,  New  York.  In  1822-3,  he  was  in  the 
engineering  department  of  the  Erie  Canal;  in  1824,  was  assis- 
tant-engineer on  the  Schuylkill  Canal;  in  1825,  was  assistant - 
engineer  on  the  Morris  Canal  and  until  1831,  when  he  took 
charge  of  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  Canal.  In  1833,  he  became 
superintendent  of  the  Morris  Canal,  and  left  it  in  1837,  when  he 
became  chief  -  engineer  of  the  Housatonic  Railroad,  and  held 
that  position  and  that  of  superintendent. un'al  1848.  /  From  1848 
-51,  he  was  chief-engineer  and  superintendent  of  the  New-York- 
and-New- Haven  Railroad. 

He  commenced  his  journey  to  Illinois  on  May  14,  1851, 
accompanied  by  a  corps  of  engineers.  Their  route  west  was  as 
follows :  by  steamer  from  New  York  to  Albany,  thence  by  rail- 
road to  Buffalo,  by  steamer  from  Buffalo  across  Lake  Erie  to 
Detroit,  by  railroad  thence  to  New  Buffalo  on  the  east  side  of 
Lake  Michigan — the  Michigan -Central  Railroad,  at  that  time, 
being  completed  only  to  this  point — and  thence  by  steamer  to 
Chicago;  arriving  through  in  about  five  days.  A  few  days  after 
his  arrival,  he  organized  several  surveying  parties,  divided  the 
line  into  working  divisions  and  appointed  over  each  a  competent 
division-engineer,  the  work  being  apportioned  as  follows: 

N.  B.  Porter,  from  Chicago  to  Rantoul. 

L.  W.  Ashley,  from  Rantoul  to  Mattoon. 

C.  Floyd  Jones,  from  Mattoon  to  Main  -  Line  Junction,  and 
north  of  Centralia  and  the  main  line  from  Ramsey's  Creek 
to  Richview. 

Arthur  S.  Ormsby,  from  Richview  to  Cairo. 

H.  B.  Plant,  from  Ramsey's  Creek  to  Bloomington. 

Timothy  B.  Blackstone,  from  Bloomington  to  Eldena. 

B.  B.  Provost,  from  Eldena  to  Dunleith. 

B.  G.  Roots  had  charge  of  surveying  parties  between  the  Big- 
Muddy  River  and  the  Ohio-and- Mississippi  Railroad. 

Shortly  after  Col.   Mason's  arrival  in  Chicago,  he  was  joined 


JOHN   B.   CALHOUN.  83 

by  Mr.  John  B.  Calhoun  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  who  had  been 
connected  with  the  Housatonic  Railroad  Company,  and  who  took 
charge  of  the  accounts  and  finances.  Col.  Mason,  writing  of  him 
several  years  after,  says:  "He  was  a  competent,  faithful,  and  reli- 
able man."  Mr.  Calhoun  remained  in  the  service  of  the  company 
for  many  years,  and  became  its  land -commissioner.  He  was  a 
genial  and  courteous  gentleman,  unpretentious,  and  thoroughly 
honest,  and  a  man  of  such  an  ingenuous  nature,  that  he  despised 
anything  like  deception.  Millions  of  dollars  passed  through  his 
hands  during  the  work  of  construction  without  the  loss  of  a  j 
cent  to  the  company.  Very  heavy  settlements  had  to  be  made 
with  contractors  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  most  of 
these  were  made  by  Mr.  Calhoun  personally,  in  the  capacity  of 
paymaster.  As  currency  was  scarce  in  the  State  and  most  of 
that  in  circulation  was  practically  irredeemable,  it  was  necessary  to 
send  to  the  eastern  banks  to  procure  a  monthly  supply.  In  this 
Way,  the  notes  of  many  of  the  Hartford  banks  were  put  in  circu- 
lation along  the  line;  but  as  these  banks  all  redeemed  in  specie, 
it  was  not  long  before  they  found  their  way  back  for  redemption.. 

Mr.  Calhoun  named  almost  all  the  stations  that  were  opened 
for  business  on  the  road  after  its  completion.  The  names  are 
mostly  of  Indian  origin,-  but  a  few  were  named  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  "Tolono,"  for  example,  was  constructed  by  placing  the 
vowel  o  thrice  repeated,  and  alternating  arbitrarily  with  the  three 
consonants  which  the  word  contains,  producing  a  name  suffi- 
ciently unique. 

On  March  16,  1853,  in  addition  to  his  other  duties,  Mr.  Mason 
was  charged  with  the  care  of  the  transportation  department  of 
the  company's  road,  covering  such  portions  of  the  line  as  were 
completed  and  in  operation,  with  additional  title  of  general- 
superintendent,  and  in  March,  1855,  additional  executive  powers 
were  granted  him  in  Illinois. 

In  the  early  prosecution  of  the  work,  great  difficulty  was. 
experienced  in  procuring  laborers;  the  country  through  which 
the  line  was  surveyed  was  of  course  entirely  unsettled.  South- 
erly from  Chicago  for  about  130  miles,  it  was  an  almost  unbroken 
prairie,  inhabited  only  by  deer,  wolves,  and  other  wild  animals., 


84  PROSECUTION   OF   THE   WORK. 

with  no  settlement  in  view.  There  were  not  half  a  dozen  places 
on  the  entire  line  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  known  on  the 
map  of  the  State;  so  that  men  had  to  be  brought  a  great  dis- 
tance to  do  the  work  and  they  had  to  be  cared  for  along  the 
line.  Indeed  with  the  exception  of  La  Salle  and  Galena  on  the 
main  line,  and  Jonesboro  in  southern  Illinois  near  the  line, 
there  were  no  places  of  importance  along  the  proposed,  route. 
Nearly  80,000  tons  of  iron  rails  of  a  superior  quality  had  been 
purchased  in  England  by  Capt.  David  A.  Neal,  the  vice-president, 
and  these  began  to  arrive  early  in  1852.  There  were  no  rail- 
mills  of  importance  in  this  country  at  that  time.  The  cost  of 
the  rails  purchased  ranged  from  $38.50  to  $43.50  per  ton,  f.o.b.,  at 
Wales  or  Liverpool.  These  rails  were  for  the  most  part  except- 
ionally good  in  quality,  and  some  of  them  were  in  track  for 
thirty  years ;  a  muCh  longer  period  than  the  steel  rails  now  man- 
ufactured will  last  under  ordinary  traffic.  Considerable  portion 
of  the  line  was  located  and  construction  was  well  under  way  by 
the  fall  of  185 1.  Maps  and  profiles  were  prepared,  and  these 
were  deposited  with  the  commissioner  of  the  general  land-office  at 
Washington,  as  required  by  law,  in  February,  1852.  The  final 
approval  of  location  and  selection  of  lands  was  secured  a  month 
later.  The  last  contract  was  let  Oct.  13,  1852.  In  May,  1853, 
the  first  portion  of  the  road  from  La  Salle  to  Bloomington,  61 
miles,  was  put  in  operation,  a  temporary  bridge  was  erected  over 
the  Illinois  River,  and  cars  were  hauled  to  the  top  of  the  bluff 
with  ropes  and  chains  by  means  of  a  stationary  engine.  In  July, 
1854,  128  miles  of  the  Chicago  branch  from  Chicago  to  Urbana 
were  finished  and  trains  were  running.  A  few  years  afterward 
the  company  donated  $50,000  toward  the  construction  of  the 
industrial  college  at  this  point,  now  known  as  the  Illinois  Univer- 
sity. In  November  of  the  same  year,  the  communication  from 
Freeport  to  Galena  was  completed.  In  the  same  month,  for 
the  first  time,  passengers  were  carried  from  Chicago  to  Cairo,  via 
Chicago -and -Mississippi  Railroad  to  St.  Louis,  thence  east  by 
the  Ohio -and -Mississippi  Railroad  to  Sandoval  on  the  main  line 
of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad,  from  which  point  the  road  was 
then  open  to  Cairo,  a  distance  of  1 1 8  miles. 


EGYPT — LOCATION  OF  LINE  TO  CHICAGO   RIVER.      85 

The  writer  was  a  passenger  on  the  first  train  that  passed 
through  southern  Illinois  to  Cairo,  and  remembers  well  how  the 
"Egyptians"  turned  out  to  witness  the  novel  sight,  to  them,  of  a 
locomotive  engine  and  train  of  cars.  They  lined  the  track  on  both 
sides  at  every  station,  the  men  dressed  in  their  snuff- colored 
jeans,  and  the  women  with  gaudy-colored  calicoes,  check-aprons, 
and  big  sun-bonnets.  They  stood  dumb  with  amazement.  Many 
of  them  looked  as  though  they  had  come  out  "between  the 
shakes"  of  fever  and  ague. 

When  the  road  was  located  not  a  single  railroad  track  crossed 
the  right  of  way  between  Chicago  and  Cairo,  a  distance  of  365 
miles.  The  first  work  put  under  contract  was  that  portion  of  the 
line  extending  from  Chicago  to  what  was  then  known  as  Calu- 
met Station,  now  called  Kensington.  This  was  done  in  order  to 
enable  the  Michigan -Central  trains  to  enter  the  city,  and  that 
company  made  a  temporary  loan  to  the  Illinois-Central  Company 
to  enable  the  latter  to  complete  this  fourteen  miles  more  promptly. 
Their  first  train  passed  over  this  new  track  on  May  20,  1852, 
running  north  as  far  as  Thirteenth  Street,  where  a  temporary 
passenger-depot  was  constructed,  and  which  was  used  for  nearly 
a  year  thereafter.  The  road  from  about  Sixteenth  Street  to 
Randolph  Street  was  afterward  constructed  upon  piles  driven  in 
the  bed  of  the  lake,  and  this  piling  was  maintained  until  shortly 
after  the  great  fire  of  1871,  when  the  right  of  way  was  filled 
with  debris  from  the  fire. 

The  line  into  Chicago  was  originally  located  through  Section 
10,  T.  39,  N.  R.  14,  east  of  3d  p.m.,  to  the  Chicago  River,  so 
that,  north  of  Randolph  Street,  it  passed  through  a  portion  of 
Fort- Dearborn  addition  then  owned  by  the  United -States  gov- 
ernment. The  map  showing  the  location  was  filed  in  the  general 
land-office  at  Washington,  the  local  land-office  at  Springfield,  and 
in  the  registry  of  deeds  for  Cook  County.  The  company  claimed 
a  right  of  way  through  Section  10,  north  of  Randolph  Street, 
under  the  act  of  congress  of  Aug.  4,  1852,  entitled,  "An  act  to 
grant  the  right  of  way  to  all  rail  and  plank  roads  and  macadam- 
ized turnpikes  passing  through  the  public  lands  belonging  to  the 
United   States   incorporated   by  any  of  the  states."     That  act 


86      BALTIMORE  AND  OHIO  RAILROAD — CAIRO  BRIDGE. 

gave  such  a  right  for  ten  years  after  its  passage.  The  company, 
however,  acquired  the  right  of  way  through  Section  10,  from  the 
United-States  government  by  purchase  on  October  14,  1852,  at 
a  cost  of  $45,000,  which  was  then  a  very  high  price.  Afterward 
the  railroad  company  brought  suit  against  the  United  States  for 
the  repayment  of  the  moneys  paid  for  the  land  acquired  in  Fort- 
Dearborn  addition,  on  the  ground  that  the  act  of  congress 
applied  to  the  lands  reserved  by  the  government  for  military 
purposes  as  well  as  ether  public  lands,  but  the  court  of  claims 
decided  adversely  to  the  railroad  company. 

The  Baltimore -and -Ohio  Railroad  did  not  enter  the  city  over 
the  Illinois-Central  tracks  until  Nov.  17,  1874. 

That  portion  of  the  "main  line,"  as  it  was  called  between  Cairo 
and  LaSalle,  a  distance  of  300.99  miles,  was  completed  Jan.  8, 1855: 

With  its  southern  terminal  in  close  proximity  to  Dixie's  land, 
the  road  offered  ready  means  of  escape  for  slaves,  of  which 
many  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  whenever  the  opportunity 
offered.  This  they  did  by  crossing  the  river  at  Bird's  Point,  Ken- 
tucky, to  Cairo,  and  secreting  themselves  in  freight-cars  or  under 
passenger  -  coaches,  just  prior  to  their  departure  for  the  north. 
When  discovered,  if  the  conductor  of  the  train  happened  to  be 
friendly  to  the  slave,  his  escape  was  winked  at,  but  in  a  few.  in- 
stances they  were  returned  to  their  masters,  under  the  law  as  it 
existed  at  that  time.* 

Up  to  Oct.  29,  1889,  tne  transfers  of  freight  and  passengers 
between  the  north  end  of  the  New-Orleans  Line  and  the  Illinois- 
Central  at  Cairo,  were  made  by  transfer  steamers  which  conveyed 
the  cars  from  one  point  to  another,  but  on  this  date  the  Cairo 
bridge  was  opened  for  traffic,  forming  a  continuous  rail  route 
from  Chicago  to  New  Orleans,  a  distance  of  938  miles.  The 
length  of  the  bridge  is  3  miles  and  4720  feet,  and  its  cost  to  date 
has  been  about  $2,700,000,  which  will  be  further  increased  by 
expenditures  in  the  way  of  filling  approaches  and  of  additional 
tracks. 

The  Galena  branch,  LaSalle  to  Dunleith,  a  distance  of  146.73 
miles,  was  completed  June  12,  1855. 

*  Fugitive-slave  law,  repealed  June  13,  1864. 


CITY  OF  GALENA.  87 

The  city  of  Galena,  in  1850,  lay  principally  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  river,  and  had  in  that  year  a  population  of  6000;  the 
whole  population  of  Jo  Davies  County  was  only  18,600.  The 
road  was  located  at  first  on  the  south  side,  because  of  very 
hostile  opposition,  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Galena,  to  the 
extension  of  the  line  across  the  river,  owing  to  a  fear  that  their 
trade  would  be  injured,  which  at  that  time  was  quite  large.  After 
the  bridge  was  constructed  across  the  river  by  the  railway  com- 
pany, one  of  the  old  settlers  sat  at  the  south  end  and  swore  that 
he  would  shoot  the  first  engineer  who  attempted  to  cross ;  a  little 
kindly  persuasion  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  more  conservative 
citizens  induced  him  to  retract  this  oath. 

Some  idea  of  the  value  and  magnitude  of  the  business  of  the 
city  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  table  of  exports  for  1851 : 

Lead,         -  33,082,190  pounds,  value  $1,417,151. 


Flour,     - 

-  39>385  barrels. 

Barley, 

42,731   bushels. 

Pork,      - 

-     3,185  barrels. 

Lard, 

125,000  pounds. 

Bacon,    - 

312,568  pounds. 

Butter, 

87,618  pounds. 

Eggs,      - 

-    22,880  dozen. 

Hides  and  skins, 

9,326 

Horses, 

800  head. 

Cattle, 

1,500  head. 

Lumber, 

5,085,684  feet. 

Shingles, 

2,470,000  bundles. 

The  town  was  laid  out  in  1827  and  incorporated  as  a  city  in 
1839. 

The  fear,  as  to  constructing  a  railway  through  the  city,  was 
certainly  well  founded,  for  the  completion  of  the  road  to  Dun- 
leith — now  called  East  Dubuque — -17  miles  north,  proved  almost 
the  ruin  of  Galena  as  a  business  centre;  the  trade  being  trans- 
ferred to  Dubuque.  The  road  from  Galena  to  Dunleith  was 
opened  Monday,  June  11,  1855;  and  the  first  passenger  -  train 
passed  through  on  that  day.     No  railways  were  at  this  time  con-  J 


\ 


88  WORK   COMPLETED — COL.   MASON    RESIGNS. 

structed  from  Dubuque  west,  and  all  the  merchandise  for  the 
Upper  Mississippi  and  the  northwest  was  transferred  to  steamers 
at  Dunleith,  where  large  and  substantial  stone  warehouses  were 
erected  to  receive  and  store  it.  This  gave  for  the  time  being 
quite  an  impetus  to  the  place;  the  price  of  city -lots  rapidly 
advanced;  a  fine,  large  hotel,  called  the  "Argyle  House,"  which 
many  old  Illinoisans  remember  well,  was  erected  by  Frederick  S. 
Jesup,  a  banker  of  Dubuque,  besides  many  stores  and  dwellings. 
—  A  connection  with  Chicago  at  Freeport  was  made  by  using  the 
tracks  of  the  Galena  -  and  -  Chicago  -  Union  Railroad,  which,  in 
1864,  became  a  part  of  the  Northwestern  Railway  system.  When 
the  Chicago-and-Iowa  Railroad  was  built  in  1872,  from  Aurora 
to  Forreston  on  the  main  line,  its  tracks  were  used  and  the 
arrangement  via  Freeport  discontinued.  The  Chicago  branch 
between  Chicago  and  the  junction  with  the  main  line,  a  distance 
of  249.78  miles,  was  completed  September  26,  1856.*  Sections 
of  the  different  divisions  were  operated  as  fast  as  completed. 
/"On  Saturday,  September  27,  1856,  Col.  Roswell  B  Masonr 
engineer- in -chief,  having  been  notified  that  the  last  rail  was  laid 
on  the  705.5  miles  of  road  and  that  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  was  an  accomplished  fact,  immediately 
sent  a  dispatch  to  the  board  of  directors  in  New  York  informing 
them  of  the  circumstance. 

Shortly  after,  he  tendered  his  resignation  to  the  board,  and 
it  was  reluctantly  accepted.  In  1861,  he  was  appointed 
comptroller  of  the  land  -  department  and  retained  that  position 
until  1867.  In  1865,  he  was  appointed  by  the  state  legislature 
one  of  the  members  of  the  Chicago  board  of  public  works  to 
superintend  the  lowering  of  the  summit  of  the  Illinois -and - 
Michigan  Canal.  In  1869,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  and  held  that  office  at  the  time  pf  the  great  fire,  Oct. 
9,  187 1 ;  he  is  still  (August,  1890)  a  resident  of  Chicago. 

In  1857,  what  was  known  as  the  Peoria  -  and  -  Oquawka  Rail- 
road was  constructed  from  Oilman  on  the  Chicago  branch  to  El 
Paso  on  the  main  line,  thus  forming  a  connection  between  these 

*  The  original  plan  was  to  have  the  Chicago  branch  leave  the  main  line  at 
a  point  between  Decatur  and  Vandalia. 


/ 


COST   OF   ROAD  — CHARTER-TAX.  89 

two  important  divisions.  The  Oilman,-  Clinton  -  and  -  Springfield 
Railroad,  connecting  the  branch  with  the  capital  of  the  State, 
was  opened  for  business  on  December  3,  187 1. 

The  early  estimates  as  to  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  Mi-  *s 
nois-Central  Railroad  proved  erroneous :  it  was  supposed  that  the 
proceeds  of  the  $17,000,000  of  mortgage  debt  created,  secured 
by  2,000,000  acres  of  land,  would  be  amply  sufficient  to  con- 
struct the  road,  and  that,  immediately  upon  its  completion,  the 
traffic  offering  would  yield  sufficient  revenue  to  pay  the  interest 
on  the  bonds  issued  so  that  no  large  contribution  from  share 
capital  would  be  necessary;  but  this  proved  a  disappointment, 
and  it  was  found  necessary  to  call  in  not  only  the  entire  amount 
of  the  share  capital,  but  to  increase  the  capital,  all  of  which  was 
paid  up  in  full.  The  charter  provided  that  the  capital  stock 
should  be  $1,000,000,  which  might  be  increased  from  time  to 
time  to  any  sum  not  exceeding  the  entire  amount  expended  on 
account  of  the  road.  The  capital  was  fixed  at  $17,000,000,  cor- 
responding to  the  amount  of  the  mortgage  debt,  but  this  has 
been  gradually  increased  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  company. 
It  is  now  $40,000,000.  The  total  cost  of  the  705.5  miles  of 
road  alone,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  June  30,  1889,  was 
$35,110,609.21.  The  dependence  placed  upon  the  value  of  the 
lands  granted  also  proved  a  disappointment.  The  entire  pro- 
ceeds of  these,  so  far  as  received,  during  the  construction  of  the 
line  and  until  its  completion  were  not  sufficient  to  make  up  the 
deficiency  in  interest  on  the  funded  debt. 

To  refer  again  to  the  clause  in  the  charter  of  the  comp 
requiring  the  payment  of  a  tax  of  seven  per  cent  on  the  gros 
earnings,  its  great  importance  to  the  State  may  be  better  under- 
stood when  it  is  stated  that,  up  to  October  31,  1889,  no  less  than 
the. enormous  sum  of  $11,873,337.14  has  been  paid  into  the 
state  treasury  under  this  requirement.  It  may  not  be  uninterest- 
ing to  the  tax-payers  of  Illinois  to  show  what  this  sum  practically 
represents  in  assets  of  the  State.  In  a  recent  report  prepared 
by  Hon.  C.  W.  Pavey,  state  auditor  for  the  United-States  census 
department,  the  value  of  public  buildings  owned  by  the  State  is 
shewn  as  follows: 


I 


90  ILLINOIS'  ASSETS  —  PROVISIONS  AS   TO   TAX. 

State-house,  Springfield,              -  $4,000,000 
Northern  Insane  Hospital,  Elgin,         -        535,000 

Eastern  Insane  Hospital,  Kankakee,  1,211,000 

Central  Insane  Hospital,  Jacksonville,  800,000 

Southern  Insane  Hospital,  Anna,         -  643,000 
Institution,  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Jacksonville,  385,000 

Institution  for  the  Blind,  Jacksonville,  171,000 

Asylum  for  Feeble-Minded,  Lincoln,  182,000 

Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  Normal,      -  148,000 
Charitable  Eye-and-Ear  Infirmary,  Chicago,    84,000 

State  Reform  School,  Pontiac,             -  220,000 

Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Home,  Quincy,  235,000 

Northern  Penitentiary,  Joliet,          -  1,500,000 

Southern  Penitentiary,  Chester,           -  750,000 

Normal  University,  Normal,             -  250,000 

Illinois  University,  Urbanna,     -  -      270,000 

Southern  University,  Carbondale,    -  200,000 

Executive  Mansion,  Springfield,  -       50,000 

Supreme  Court,  Ottawa,          -            -  50,000 

Supreme  Court,  Mount  Vernon,  -       55,000 

State-Arsenal,  Springfield,        -             -  15,000 


$11,754,000 
In  the  constitution  of  1870,  the  following  reference  is  made  to 
the  payment  of  this  tax:  "No  contract,  obligation,  or  liability, 
whatever,  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company  to  pay  any 
money  into  the  state  treasury,  nor  any  lien  of  the  State  upon,  or 
right  lo  tax  property  of,  said  company  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  charter  of  said  company,  approved  February 
10,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  185 1,  shall  ever  be  released,  sus- 
pended, modified,  altered,  remitted,  or  in  any  manner  diminished 
or  impaired  by  legislative  or  other  authority ;  and  all  moneys 
derived  from  said  company,  after  the  paying  of  the  State  debt, 
shall  be  appropriated  and  set  apart  for  the  payment  of  the  ordi- 
nary expenses  of  the  state  government,  and  for  no  other  purpose 
whatever." 

The  act  of  1869,  known  as  the  Lake-Front  act,  contains  this 
clause:  "This  act  shall  not  be  construed  nor  have  the  effect  to 


EFFECTS   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR.  9 1 

release  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company  from  the  payment 
into  the  treasury  of  the  State  of  Illinois  of  the  per  centum  on 
the  gross  or  total  proceeds,  receipts,  or  incomes  derived  from 
said  road  and  -branches  stipulated  in  the  charter  of  said  com- 
pany." 

The  year  1861  was  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad.  Ten  years  had  elapsed  since  its  charter 
was  obtained.  The  road  was  fully  completed  and  thoroughly 
equipped,  but  the  results  of  operating  it  were  disappointing. 
In  April  of  that  year,  the  government  placed  a  force  of  troops 
at  Cairo.  Communication  with  the  south  being  prohibited,  the 
through  business  was  cut  off,  and  the  interests  of  the  company 
suffered  for  a  time  both  in  the  loss  of  traffic  and  the  failure  of  the 
farmers  to  pay  for  their  lands.  To  add  to  the  difficulty,  the  bank 
issues  in  Illinois  were  largely  based  upon  the  securities  of  the 
Southern  States.  The  overthrow  of  this  currency  caused  the  with- 
drawal of  $12,000,000  of  paper  from  circulation  with  great  loss 
to  the  holders.  The  tax  payable  to  the  State  upon  the  gross 
earnings  was,  at  that  time,  payable  in  gold,  and  the  company  was 
obliged  to  pay  a  premium  of  twenty-five  per  cent  for  a  draft  on 
New  York,  payable  in  coin.  As  the  farmers  indebted  to  the 
company  could  not  meet  the  payments  due  on  their  lands  in 
cash,  the  land-department  adopted  the  alternative  of  accepting 
pay  from  them  in  corn,  with  which  their  cribs  were  overflowing. 
Commencing  August  1,  in  that  year,  there  were  received  1,860,- 
000  bushels  of  corn  for  lands,  and  a  large  quantity  was  received 
in  the  following  year. 

With  the  necessities  growing  out  of  the  war,  sorghum,  or 
Chinese  sugar  cane,  began  to  be  successfully  cultivated  in  Illinois 
in  186 1,  and  about  1,500,000  gallons  of  syrup  were  produced. 
Cotton  was  also  raised  to  a  considerable  extent  in  southern 
Illinois,  the  price  of  that  staple  having  reached  one  dollar  per 
pound.  Many  of  the  settlers  on  the  company's  lands  in  southern 
Illinois  were  from  the  south,  and  were,  therefore,  familiar  with 
the  cultivation  of  both  these  products. 

The  loss  of  the  southern  traffic  was  soon  compensated  for  in 


92       POSSESSION   BY   UNITED-STATES   GOVERNMENT. 

the  extraordinary  impetus  given  to  every  branch  of  business  by 
the  equipment  and  movement  of  the  vast  number  of  men  placed 
in  the  field.  It  is  estimated  that  in  Illinois  alone  that  year  65,000 
men  were  withdrawn  from  the  ordinary  occupations  of  civil  life 
to  engage  in  warlike  pursuits.  The  corn,  hay,  and  oat  crops  of 
1 86 1-2  were  unusually  good,  and  the  prices  of  these  products 
advanced.  The  demand  from  the  south,  though  not  of  the 
character  looked  for,  was  very  great,  and  all  the  corn,  oats, 
and  hay,  that  could  be  transported  to  Cairo,  found  a  ready  pur- 
chaser at  extraordinarily  high  prices  in  the  person  of  Uncle 
Sam's  quartermaster.  Corn  sold  at  one  time  at  $1.50  per  bushel 
at  Cairo  and  hay  and  oats  were  correspondingly  high. 

The  offerings  of  freight  were  beyond  the  carrying  capacity  of 
the  line:  and  traffic  was  tendered  at  various  points,  with  a  cer- 
tainty that  it  could  not  be  moved,  in  order  that  claims  for  damages 
for  refusal  to  receive  might  be  made.  Several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  were  paid  out  on  this  account.  The  movements  of  troops 
and  munitions  of  war  were  so  large  that  at  times  whole  regiments 
had  to  be  transported  in  freight  cars.  It  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  the  passenger  department  to  receive  an  order  to  move 
10,000  troops  at  a  few  hours'  notice.  From  this  time  on,  the 
revenues  of  the  line  were  immense,  and  the  interest  on  the 
bonded  debt  of  the  company  was  no  longer  a  source  of  anxiety 
to  those  who  had  stood  by  it  so  heroically  through  the  struggles 
of  the  preceding  decade.  The  first  dividend  on  the  shares,  two 
per  cent,  was  earned  and  paid  that  year,  six  years  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  line. 

The  road  was  placed  at  the  service  of  the  government,  which 
at  times'  had  practical  possession,  and  the  number  of  troops 
transported  over  it  was  very  large,  as  was  also  the  quantity 
of  munitions  of  war  and  stores.  Most  of  the  Illinois,  Minnesota, 
and  Wisconsin  troops  were  sent  south  via  Cairo.  The  first  de 
tachment  of  Illinois  volunteer  troops,  under  orders  of  Governor 
Richard  Yates  and  in  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Swift  of  Chicago, 
was  carried  south  in  April,  1861.  It  was  rumored  that  the  con- 
federates intended  an  attack  on  some  of  the  bridges  on  the  road 
south  of  Centralia,  and  these  men  were  sent  there  to  defend  them. 


UNION   OFFICERS   AND   SOLDIERS   FURNISHED.        93 

Such  was  the  haste  with  which  they  were  dispatched,  that  most  of 
them  were  unprovided  with  arms!  For  these  and  many  other 
bodies  of  troops  forwarded,  the  company  did  not  wait  to  obtain 
proper  requisitions  from  the  State,  and  consequently  no  compen- 
sation was  allowed  for  the  service.  A  large  sum  of  money  due 
from  the  State  remains  unpaid  to  this  day.  Free  transportation 
was  given  during  the  war  for  all  supplies  forwarded  to  the  sick 
and  wounded  in  the  hospitals  in  the  South.  During  the  war,  not 
only  slaves  and  refugees  from  the  South,  but  deserters  from  the 
southern  army,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  add,  a  few  from  the  Union 
army  escaped  by  crossing  the  river  at  Cairo. 

The  demands  upon  the  road-bed  and  rolling  stock  of  the  com- 
pany, from  1861  to  1865,  were  so  heavy  that  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  the  track  had  been  so  overtaxed  as  to  be  in  an  almost  unsafe 
condition,  and  it  was  restored  only  after  many  years  of  labor  and 
the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money. 

Many  of  the  Union  officers  and  privates,  previous  to  the  war, 
occupied  positions  in  the  service  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad 
Company.     Among  them  were : 

Maj.-Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  was  engineer-in-chief  in  1856 
and  vice-president  in  1857-9.  The  financial  resources  of  the 
company  at  this  time  were  quite  limited,  so  that  the  position 
proved  a  most  trying  one  to  fill.  In  that  year  the  company  was 
compelled  temporarily  to  make  an  assignment  of  its  property, 
and  the  then  Capt.  McClellan  was  appointed  one  of  the  assignees. 
This  trust  he  administered  with  great  faithfulness.  He  was  cou- 
rageous under  difficulties,  exceedingly  tender-hearted,  just  and 
considerate  in  his  treatment  of  those  placed  under  him,  and  was 
beloved  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  had  charge 
of  Chicago  Harbor  in  1843,  and  superintended  the  removal  of 
the  sand-bar  across  the  Chicago  River.  . 

Maj.-Gen.  Ambrose  Everett  Burnside  was  cashier  of  the  land- 
department  in  Chicago  and  treasurer  of  the  company.  He  was 
a  director  of  the  company\from  1865  to  1868.  Upon  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  in  1861,  he  was  called  by  Gov.  Sprague  of 
Rhode  Island  to  take  charge  of  the  state  troops,  and  from  the 
colonelcy  of  the  First  Rhode  Island  Regiment  he  rapidly  rose  to 


94     BANKS,  RANSOM,  BRAYMAN,  AND  OTHERS. 

the  rapk  of  major-general.  His  distinguished  services  in  North 
Carolina  caused  him  to  be  promoted  to  the  chief  place  in  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  afterward  served  his 
State  many  years  and  until  his  death  as  United -States  senator. 

Maj.-Gen.  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  was  resident  director  in  Chicago 
from  September,  i860  to  June,  1861.  He  left  this  post  to  enter 
the  army. 

Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  E.  G.  Ransom  was  station-agent  at  Farina,, 
a  small  station  in  southern  Illinois,  at  the  time  the  war  broke  out. 
He  lived,  fought,  and  died  a  brave  man,  every  inch  a  soldier.  I 
last  saw  him  alive  in  his  tent  at  Bird's  Point,  in  May,  1861.  He 
was  anxious  to  be  ordered  to  the  front. 

Brig. -Gen.  Mason  Brayman  was  one  of  the  solicitors  of  the  com- 
pany. He  did  good  service  for  the  company  during  its  early  organ- 
ization and  was  instrumental  in  securing  most  of  its  right  of  way. 

Brig.-Gen.  John  Basil  Turchin,  colonel  of  the  Nineteenth  Illi- 
nois Volunteers  and  author  of  "Chickamauga,"  1889,  was  en- 
gaged in  the  land -department.  He  induced  a  large  number 
of  his  countrymen  to  settle  upon  the  lands  of  the  company 
near  Radom  Station. 

Brig.-Gen.  H.  L.  Robinson,  for  whom  President  Lincoln 
showed  some  friendship,  was  a  conductor  on  one  of  the  subur- 
ban trains.    He  rose  to  the  position  of  colonel  and  quartermaster. 

Col.  John  B.  Wyman,  colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Illinois  Volun- 
teers, lived  at  Amboy;  was  division  superintendent  of  the  north 
division;  he  was  killed  at  Chickasaw  Bayou,  December  27,  1862. 

Col.  David  Stuart  was  one  of  the  solicitors  of  the  company. 

Lieut.  Wm.  DeWolf  was  engaged  in  the  land-department.  He 
died  June  2,  1862,  from  injuries  received  at  the  fight  at  Williams- 
burg, Va.,  May  4,  in  that  year. 

Maj.  Joseph  Kirkland,-  for  some  time  auditor,  of  the  company, 
entered  the  volunteer  service  in  1861,  in  the  first  levy  of  troops. 
He  served  faithfully  and  gallantly  as  private,  lieutenant,  captain, 
and  major,  successively,  and  was  with  Gen.  McClellan  in  his 
Virginia  campaign,  and  remained  in  the  service  until  1863.  The 
major  is  now  connected  with  the  staff  of  the  Chicago  Tribune. 

Col.  James  T.  Tucker,  who  was  aid  to  Gen.  Banks  while  the 


EVERETT,  CARSON  —  DEVELOPMENT.        95 

latter  was  in  charge  at  New  Orleans,  was  an  assistant -treasurer 
of  the  company.  He  was  commissioned  by  Gov.  Richard  Yates 
in  1861.  He  was  a  most  generous -hearted  young  man,  and 
every  one  who  met  "Jimmy"  Tucker  learned  to  love  him.  After 
the  war  he  was  the  company's  general  southern  agent  at  New 
Orleans,  which  position  he  filled  most  acceptably.  He  died  in 
that  city,  April  15,  1874. 

Sergt.  Charles  W.  Everett,  of  Battery  A,  Chicago  Light  Artil- 
lery, had  been  employed  in  the  land -department;  he  received  a 
fatal  wound  at  the  battle  of  Belmont,  Ky.,  and  was  brought  to 
his  home  at  Woodlawn  and  died  there.  It  was  my  privilege  to 
watch  with  him  during  his  last  night  on  earth.  * 

Irving  W.  Carson,  the  celebrated  scout  who  served  in  the  army 
of  the  Potomac,  had  been  conductor  on  the  Hyde -Park  train, 
and  was  killed  while  serving  under  Gen.  Grant  at  Vicksburg. 

There  were  hosts  of  others,  principally  privates,  but  many  of 
whom  rendered  meritorious  service,  that  enlisted  from  the  ranks 
of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad.  In  truth,  during  the  early  part 
of  the  war,  enlistments  by  the  employe's  were  so  numerous  that 
it  was  difficult  to  find  men  to  take  their  places. 

Since  .the  completion  of  the  original  705.5  miles  of  the  Illinois-  1/ 
Central  .Railroad  proper,  the  company  has  purchased,  leased,  or 
constructed,  seventeen  other  lines  extending  into  ten  different 
states  and  running  through  nearly  fifteen  degrees  of  latitude,  until 
it  now  has  in  its  system  a  mileage  four  times  as  great  as  that  orig- 
inally projected,  or  say  2888  miles.  Prominent  among  these  is 
the  line  between  Cairo  and  New  Orleans,  sometime  known  as  the 
"Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad,"  to  which  full 
reference  will  be  hereafter  made.  But  the  parent  road  is,  as 
it  always  has  been,  the  main-stay  of  the  entire  system:  all  the 
lateral  lines  pay  tribute  to  it,  so  that  the  State  receives  its. 
enormous  tax  not  only  as  at  first  upon  the  705.5  miles  within  its 
limits,  but  upon  all  the  revenue  derived  from  traffic  contributed 
by  these  lateral  lines  (which  were  purchased,  constructed,  or 
leased  as  feeders)  as  well  as  by  each  connecting  line.  No  other 
state  in  the  Union  enjoys  such  a  fruitful  source  of  income  from  its. 


g6      CHICAGO  HARBOR  AND  IMPROVEMENT  COMPANY. 

railways.  The  road  employs  12,383  men,  owns  470  locomotive 
engines,*  413  passenger -coaches,  and  13,862  freight  cars.  Its 
right  of  way  is  the  most  liberal  of  any  railroad  in  the  world, 
being  200  feet  in  width  over  its  entire  length.  For  the  705 
miles,  this  covers  about  16,000  acres  of  land,  equal  to  twenty-five 
miles  square  in  area. 

LAKE -FRONT  ACT  OF   1869.      ^ 

I  suppose  a  history  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad,  however 
brief  or  condensed,  would  be  incomplete  without  a  reference  to 
the  lake  -  front  act.  It  will  perhaps  be  a  revelation  to  many  to 
learn  that  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company  was  not  the 
first  in  the  field  in  the  effort  to  acquire  the  lake  front,  and  it  will 
perhaps  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  many  to  learn  just  how  the 
plan  originated.  As  far  back  as  1866,  an  organization  known  as 
the  Chicago  Harbor  Improvement  Company,  and  which  was 
composed  of  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Chicago,  attempted 
to  obtain  from  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois  certain 
rights  which  can  be  more  clearly  defined  and  understood  by 
certain  articles  of  agreement  entered  into  by  those  interested 
in  it,  which  were  as  follows: 

Chicago  Harbor-and-Improvement  Company. 

"Articles  of  agreement  and  association  made  and  entered  into 
by  and  between  the  respective  subscribers  hereto,  each  with  the 
other,  for  the  uses  and  objects  and  upon  the  declarations  herein 
contained  and  stated. 

First:  It  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  object  of  this  associa- 
tion to  secure  by  legislative,  and  other  grants,  franchises,  iramu- 

*  The  first  locomotive  engine  built  in  Chicago  by  a  railway  company  for  its 
own  use  was  that  constructed  by  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  at  its 
Weldon  shops  in  March,  1862,  and  known  as  Engine  No.  44.  Up  to  1856, 
the  company  was  burning  wood  in  their  engines,  for  which  they  were  paying 
about  $5  per  cord.  That  year  some  experiments  were  made  in  burning 
coal,  by  changing  the  fire-boxes  of  the  engines,  which  proved  successful, 
and  all  the  wood-burning  engines  were  gradually  changed  to  coal  burners; 
thus  effecting  a  large  reduction  in  the  operating  expenses  of  the  road,  as 
coal  could  be  purchased  for  about  $1  a  ton  at  the  mines. 


CHICAGO  HARBOR  AND  IMPROVEMENT  COMPANY.      97 

nities,  easements,  and  privileges,  the  right  to  create,  fill  in,  con- 
struct, build,  dredge,  excavate  and  dig  out,  own  and  possess, 
lands,  piers,  wharves,  breakwaters,  sea-walls,  canals,  slips,  docks, 
warehouses,  elevators,  stores,  and  buildings  of  every  name  and 
description,  within  and  upon,  and  off  from  the  limits,  or  any  part 
thereof,  now  covered  by  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  or  the 
Chicago  River,  lying  and  situated  opposite  and  east  of  fractional 
sections  22  and  15  and  that  portion  of  fractional  section  10 
lying  south  of  the  Chicago  River,  in  township  39,  north  range 
14,  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian,  within  one  mile  of  the 
shore  of  said  lake,  or  within  so  much  and  such  part  of  said 
limits  as  may  be  feasible  and  expedient,  and  therein  and  there- 
upon, to  create,  fill  in,  construct,  build,  dredge,  excavate  and 
dig  out,  own  and  possess,  lands,  piers,  wharves,  breakwaters, 
sea-walls,  canals,  slips,  docks,  warehouses,  elevators,  stores,  and 
buildings  of  every  name  and  description,  and  do  all  and  singular, 
such  other  work  and  perform  such  other  acts  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  be  done  to  carry  out  and  effectuate  the  object  and  ends 
of  this  association. 

"Second:  This  association  shall  be  known  and  called  'The 
Chicago  Harbor  Improvement  Company.' 

"Third:  The  officers  of  the  association  shall  consist  of  a  presi- 
dent, vice-president,  treasurer,  secretary,  and  an  executive  com- 
mittee composed  of  five  members  of  the  association,  to  be  chosen 
by  the  association.  Said  officers  and  executive  committee  to 
hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  association.  The  duties 
of  the  executive  committee  shall  be  to  obtain  the  legislation, 
grants,  franchises,  immunities,  and  easements  mentioned  in  the 
first  section  of  these  articles. 

"Fourth:  All  grants,  franchises,  immunities,  and  easements 
obtained  by  the  association  shall  run  to  individuals  composing 
said  association,  and  shall  be  owned  and  possessed  bythe  several 
members  thereof  in  equal  undivided  pro-rata  proportions;  and 
each  member  thereof  shall  have  the  right,  upon  the  osganization 
of  any  corporation  under  and  by  virtue  of  such  grants  or  fran- 
chises, to  subscribe  for  and  receive  an  equal  proportion  with  each 
and  every  other  member  thereof  of  the  capital  stock  of  such 
corporation.  7 


98  LAKE-FRONT   ACT. 

" Fifth:  It  is  hereby  agreed  by  and  between  the  parties  hereto, 
that  each  member  hereof  is  liable  for  and  hereby  promises  to 
pay  to  the  treasurer  hereof  his  equal  pro-rata  proportion  of  all 
assessments  made  to  defray  the  expenses  incident  to  the  obtain- 
ing of  the  legislation,  grants,  franchises,  and  easements  aforesaid. 

"Sixth:  All  assessments  under  article  fifth  shall  be  made  by 
the  association  at  a  meeting  called  by  the  secretary  thereof  by 
written  or  printed  notice  to  each  member  thereof,  such  notice 
specifying  the  time,  place,  and  purpose  for  which  such  meeting 
is  called.  For  the  purpose  of  this  section,  one-half  of  the  mem- 
bers of  said  association  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  and  a  majority 
vote  of  such  quorum  shall  be  sufficient  to  create  a  valid  assess- 
ment. 

"Seventh:  Any  member  of  the  association  failing  to  pay  each 
and  every  assessment  made  against  him  in  accordance  with 
sections  fifth  and  sixth  after  notice  and  demand  by  the  treasurer 
shall  forfeit  to  said  association  all  interests  in  its  grants,  fran- 
chises, immunities,  and  easements,  and  may  by  resolution  be 
declared  expelled  therefrom. 

"Chicago,  March  10,  1866,  A.  D." 

The  organization  that  sought  to  obtain  this  franchise  was  com- 
posed of  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Chicago,  but  they  were 
governed  by  selfish  motives,  and  could  give  nothing  in  return — 
it  is  even  doubtful  whether  they  would  have  carried  out  their 
scheme.  They  failed  to  procure  the  privileges  they  sought  to 
obtain,  and  at  the  next  session  in  1869,  the  legislature  conferred 
similar  rights  upon  the  railroad  company  by  the  passage  of  an 
act  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

Lake- Front  Act. 

"An  act  in  relation  to  a  portion  of  the  submerged  lands  and 
lake-park  grounds,  lying  on  and  adjacent  to  the  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan,  on  the  eastern  frontage  of  the  City  of  Chicago. 

"Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  o/t/ie  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  right,  title,  and 
interest  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  and  to  so  much  of  fractional 
section  15,  township  39,  range  14,  east  of  the  third  principal 
meridian,  in  the  City  of  Chicago,  County  of  Cook,  and  State  of 


LAKE -FRONT   ACT.  99 

Illinois,  as  is  situated  east  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  north  of 
Park  Row,  and  south  of  the  south  line  of  Monroe  Street,  and 
west  of  a  line  running  parallel  with,  and  four  hundred  feet  east 
of  the  west  line  of  said  Michigan  Avenue — being  a  strip  of  land 
four  hundred  feet  in  width,  including  said  avenue  along  the  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan,  and  partially  submerged  by  the  waters  of  said 
lake — are  hereby  granted,  in  fee,  to  the  said  City  of  Chicago,  with 
full  power  and  authority  to  sell  and  convey  all  of  said  tract  east 
of  said  avenue,  leaving  said  avenue  ninety  feet  in  width,  in  such 
manner  and  upon  such  terms  as  the  common  council  of  said  city 
may,  by  ordinance  provide:  Provided,  that  no  sale  or  convey- 
ance of  said  property,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall  be  valid  unless 
the  same  be  approved  by  a  vote  of  not  less  than  three-fourths  of 
all  the  aldermen  elect. 

"Sec.  2.  The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  any  and  all  of  said 
lands  shall  be  set  aside,  and  shall  constitute  a  fund,  to  be  desig- 
nated as  the  "park  fund"  of  the  said  City  of  Chicago,  and  said 
fund  shall  be  equitably  distributed  by  the  common  council 
between  the  south  division,  the  west  division,  and  the  north 
division  of  the  said  city,  upon  the  basis  of  the  assessed  value 
of  the  taxable  real  estate  of  each  of  said  divisions,  and  shall  be 
applied  to  the  purchase  and  improvement,  in  each  of  said  divi- 
sions, or  in  the  vicinity  thereof,  of  a  public  park,  or  parks,  and 
for  no  other  purpose  whatsoever. 

"Sec.  3.  The  right  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company, 
under  the  grant  from  the  State  in  its  charter,  which  said  grant 
constitutes  a  part  of  the  consideration  for  which  the  said  com- 
pany pays  to  the  State  at  least  seven  per  cent  of  its  gross  earn- 
ings, and  under  and  by  virtue  of  its  appropriation,  occupancy, 
use,  and  control,  and  the  riparian  ownership  incident  to  such 
grant,  appropriation,  occupancy,  use,  and  control  in  and  to  the 
lands  submerged  or  othenvise  lying  east  of  the  said  line  running 
parallel  with,  and  four  hundred  feet  east  of  the  west  line  of 
Michigan  Avenue,  in  fractional  sections  10  and  15,  township  and 
range  as  aforesaid,  is  hereby  confirmed,  and  all  the  right  and  title 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  in  and  to  the  submerged  lands  constitut- 
ing the  bed  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  lying  east  of  the  tracks  and 


IOO  LAKE -FRONT   ACT. 

breakwater  of  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company,  for  the 
distance  of  one  mile,  and  between  the  south  line  of  the  south 
pier  extending  eastwardly,  and  a  line  extended  eastward  from 
the  south  line  of  lot  twenty-one,  south  of  and  near  to  the  round 
house  and  machine-shops  of  said  company,  in  the  south  division 
of  the  said  City  of  Chicago,  are  hereby  granted,  in  fee,  to  the 
said  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company,  its  successors  and 
assigns:  Provided,  however,  that  the  fee  to  said  lands  shall  be 
held  by  said  company  in  perpetuity,  and  that  the  said  company 
shall  not  have  the  power  to  grant,  sell,  or  convey  the  fee  to  the 
same;  and  that  all  gross  receipts  from  use,  profits,  leases,  or 
otherwise  of  said  lands,  or  the  improvements  thereon,  or  that 
may  hereafter  be  made  thereon,  shall  form  a  part  of  the  gross 
proceeds,  receipts  and  income  of  the  said  Illinois-Central  Rail- 
road Company,  upon  which  said  company  shall  forever  pay  into 
the  State  treasury,  semi-annually,  the  per  centum  provided  for  in 
its  charter,  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  said  charter: 
And  provided,  also,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  authorize 
obstructions  to  the  Chicago  harbor,  or  impair  the  public  right  of 
navigation;  nor  shall  this  act  be  construed  to  exempt  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company,  its  lessees  or  assigns,  from  any  act 
of  the  general  assembly  which  may  be  hereafter  passed  regulat- 
ing the  rates  of  wharfage  and  dockage  to  be  charged  in  said 
harbor:  And  provided  further,  That  any  of  the  lands  hereby 
granted  to  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad,  and  the  improvements 
now,  or  which  may  hereafter  be,  on  the  same,  which  shall  here- 
after be  leased  by  said  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  to  any 
person  or  corporation,  or  which  may  hereafter  be  occupied  by 
any  person  or  corporation  other  than  the  said  Illinois  -  Central 
Railroad  Company,  shall  not,  during  the  continuance  of  such 
leasehold  estate,  or  of  such  occupancy,  be  exempt  from  munici- 
pal or  other  taxation. 

"Sec.  4.  All  the  right  and  title  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  in 
and  to  the  lands,  submerged  or  otherwise,  lying  north  of  the 
south  line  of  Monroe  Street,  and  south  of  the  south  line  of 
Randolph  Street,  and  between  the  east  line  of  Michigan  Avenue, 
and  the  track  and  roadway  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Com- 


LAKE- FRONT   ACT.  IOI 

pany,  and  constituting  parts  of  fractional  sections  10  and  15,  in 
said  township  39,  as  aforesaid,  are  hereby  granted,  in  fee,  to  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  the  Chicago,-Burlington-and- 
Quincy  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Michigan-Central  Railroad 
Company,  their  successors  and  assigns,  for  the  erection  thereon 
of  a  passenger-depot,  and  for  such  other  purposes  as  the  business 
of  said  company  may  require,  Provided,  That  upon  all  gross 
receipts  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  from  leases  of 
its  interest  in  said  grounds  or  improvements  thereon  or  other 
uses  of  the  same,  the  per  centum  provided  for  in  the  charter  of 
said  company  shall  forever  be  paid  in  conformity  with  the  require- 
ments of  said  charter. 

"Sec.  5.  In  consideration  of  the  grant  to  the  said  Illinois- 
Central,  Chicago,-Burlington-and-Quincy,  and  Michigan-Central 
railroad  companies  of  the  land  as  aforesaid,  said  companies  are 
hereby  required  to  pay  to  the  said  City  of  Chicago,  the  sum  of 
$800,000,  to  be  paid  in  the  following  manner,  viz.:  $200,000 
within  three  months,  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act, 
$200,000  within  six  months  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this 
act;  $200,000  within  nine  months  from  and  after  the  passage  of 
this  act;  $200,000  within  twelve  months  from  and  after  the 
passage  of  this  act;  which  said  sums  shall  be  placed  in  the  park 
fund  of  the  said  City  of  Chicago,  and  shall  be  distributed  in  like 
manner  as  is  hereinbefore  provided  for  the  distribution  of  the 
other  funds  which  may  be  obtained  by  said  city  from  the  sale  of 
the  lands  conveyed  to  it  by  this  act. 

"Sec.  6.  The  common  council  of  the  said  City  of  Chicago 
is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  quitclaim  and  release  to 
the  said  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  the  Chicago,-Burling- 
ton-and-Quincy  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Michigan -Central 
Railroad  Company,  any  and  all  claim  and  interest  in  and  upon 
any  and  all  of  said  land  north  of  the  south  line  of  Monroe 
Street,  as  aforesaid,  which  the  said  city  may  have  by  virtue  of  any 
expenditures  and  improvements  thereon  or  otherwise,  and  in  case 
the  said  common  council  shall  neglect  or  refuse  thus  to  quitclaim 
and  release  to  the  said  companies,  as  aforesaid,  within  four 
months  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  then  the  said 


102  ACCEPTANCE — VETO    BY   GOV.    PALMER. 

companies  shall  be  discharged  from  all  obligation  to  pay  the 
balance  remaining  unpaid  to  said  city. 

"Sec.  7.  The  grants  to  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany contained  in  this  act  are  hereby  declared  to  be  upon  the 
express  condition  that  said  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company 
shall  perpetually  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the  State  of  Illinois  the 
per  centum  on  the  gross  or  total  proceeds,  receipts,  or  income 
derived  from  said  road  and  branches  stipulated  in  its  charter, 
and  also  the  per  centum  on  the  gross  receipts  of  said  company 
reserved  in  this  act. 

"Sec.  8.  This  act  shall  be  a  public  act  and  in  force  from  and 
after  its  passage." 

This  act  was  accepted  by  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company,  July  16,  1870,  and  the  secretary  of 
state  advised  accordingly. 

This  bill  was  returned  to  the  house  of  representatives  April 
14,  1869,  by  Gov.  John  M.  Palmer  without  his  approval.  The 
reasons  given  for  the  veto  were  that  the  consideration  for  the 
grant  was  insufficient — that  the  rights  that  were  confirmed  to  the 
railroad  company  were  too  vaguely  enumerated — that  the  act  was 
not,  in  his  judgment,  coupled  with  such  restrictions  as  would 
protect  the  rights  of  the  State  —  that  the  act  did  not  require  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  to  place  improvements  on  the 
submerged  lands  —  that  the  price  named  for  the  three  blocks  of 
land  between  Randolph  and  Monroe  streets  —  intended  to  be 
used  for  a  passenger -depot — $800,000 — was  below  the  market- 
value. 

On  April  16,  1869,  however,  the  act  was  passed  in  the  house 
over  the  governor's  veto  by  a  vote  of  52  to  31,  and  in  the  senate 
by  a  vote  of  14  to  11.  A  careful  examination  of  the  act  will 
show  that,  although  the  railroad  company  was  to  receive  an 
extraordinary  grant,  the  interests  of  the  State  at  least  were  very 
well  guarded.  The  railroad  company  could  not  part  with  the 
fee,  and  were  obligated  to  pay  perpetually  to  the  State  upon  all 
gross  income  derived  from  the  property  the  same  percentage 
that  they  pay  on  the  gross  earnings  of  their  railway,  7  per  cent; 


NECESSITY   OF   DOCKS   FOR   CHICAGO.  103 

also  taxes  to  the  City  of  Chicago  upon  any  of  the  lands  acquired 
under  the  grant  that  might  be  leased  to  other  parties.  There 
was  also  a  provision  in  the  act  that  the  general  assembly  should 
reserve  power  to  regulate  the  rates  for  dockage.  The  view  taken 
by  many  senators  and  representatives  who  voted  for  this  meas- 
ure, was  that  the  State  was  simply  utilizing  its  interest  in  the 
submerged  lands  by  constituting  them  a  source  of  permanent 
income  to  it  and  incidentally  to  the  City  of  Chicago.  The 
ownership  of  docks  by  municipalities  has  never  proved  very 
profitable,  and  their  construction  and  maintenance  have  been 
fruitful  sources  of  corruption.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  what 
was  regarded  by  some  at  the  time  as  a  tremendous  "steal"  might 
have  proved  a  large  and  permanent  benefit  to  the  city  and  to 
the  State.  The  great  need  of  the  City  of  Chicago  at  this  present 
time  is  increased  dockage;  the  accommodation  offered  by  those 
on  the  Chicago  River  and  its  branches  is  entirely  inadequate 
to  the  wants  of  a  great  city  of  nearly  1,200,000  inhabitants.  The 
loss  of  time  and  great  expense  to  which  vessels  are  subjected 
by  reason  of  being  compelled  to  pass  through  the  numerous 
bridges  spanning  the  Chicago  River  are  very  great,  and  have 
inflicted  incalculable  injury  upon  the  shipping  interest  of  the 
port  of  Chicago,  while  the  delay  caused  by  the  opening  and 
closing  of  the  bridges  has  also  proved  a  serious  inconvenience 
and  loss  to  her  citizens.  With  each  section  of  the  city  now 
supplied  with  a  park,  and  some  of  them  but  partially  completed, 
the  necessity  for  an  additional  one  in  the  business  portion  of  the 
city,  and  which  can  only  be  created  at  great  expense,  does  not 
seem  as  pressing  or  important  as  the  construction  of  additional 
docks,  which  the  city  under  its  charter  has  the  right  to  construct. 
During  the  year  1889,  10,804  vessels  arrived  at  the  port  of 
Chicago,  representing  a  tonnage  of  5,102,790  tons. 

On  July  3,  187 1,  with  a  view  of  preventing  encroachments 
upon  the  shore  of  the  lake,  certain  proceedings  were  commenced 
by  the  United  States  by  information  filed  in  the  United -States 
circuit-court  and  a  temporary  injunction  was  obtained.  A  year 
later,  a  stipulation  was  entered  into  between  the  railroad  company 
and  the  war  department  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  engi- 


104  REPEAL   OF   LAKE-FRONT   ACT. 

neer  officers  of  the  United-States  government,  establishing  certain 
dock  lines  on  the  east,  to  which  point,  those  authorized  should 
be  allowed  to  construct  piers. 

Two  years  later,  April  15,  1873,  the  following  act  was  passed: 
"An  act  to  repeal  an  act  entitled  'An  act  in  relation  to  a  portion 
of  the  submerged  lands  and  Lake -Park  Grounds,  lying  on  and 
adjacent  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  on  the  eastern  frontage 
of  the  city  of  Chicago;  in  force  April  16,  1869.' 

"Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
represented  in  the  general  assembly,  That  the  act  entitled  'An  act 
in  relation  to  a  portion  of  the  submerged  lands  and  Lake -Park 
Grounds,  lying  on  and  adjacent  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan, 
on  the  eastern  frontage  of  the  city  of  Chicago;  in  force  April 
16,  1869/  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed." 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  as  a  matter  of  history,  that  this 
repealing  act  was  introduced  by  a  representative  who  had  a 
grievance.  His  brother-in-law,  an  ex-official  of  the  city  of 
Chicago  and  a  former  employe  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad 
Company,  had  made  a  demand  upon  the  officers  of  the  company 
for  a  certain  number  of  annual  passes,  and,  being  refused,  insti- 
gated the  proceedings  which  led  to  the  repeal.  This  action  on 
the  part  of  the  brother-in-law,  therefore,  partook  more  of  an 
exhibition  of  "gall"  than  of  a  display  of  virtue.  It  may  be  of 
interest  to  add  that  the  member  who  caused  the  passage  of  the 
act  of  1873  had  labored  most  zealously  for  the  passage  of  the 
act  of  1869,  and  his  name  will  be  found  duly  recorded  in  the 
journal  of  the  house  as  voting  "aye." 

The  subsequent  litigation  growing  out  of  the  passage  of  these 
various  acts  culminated  in  a  decision  rendered  by  Judges  Harlan 
and  H.  W.  Blodgett,  February  23,  1888,  in  the  United -States 
circuit -court.  This  decision  confirmed  to  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad  Company  its  title  to  all  lands  held  by  it  north  of  Ran- 
dolph Street  and  also  all  its  rights  as  riparian  owner  south  of 
Park  Row.  As  to  the  distance  between  Park  Row  and  Randolph 
Street,  the  following  extract  from  the  opinion  referred  to  will 
perhaps  give,  the  reader  a  clearer  view  of  the  decision  rendered 
by  the  court: 


VISIT  OF  FOREIGN   DELEGATES.  105 

"Upon  the  whole  case,  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  effect  of  the 
repealing  act  of  1873  was  to  withdraw  from  the  railroad  company 
as  well  the  grant  of  the  submerged  lands  described  in  the  third 
section  of  the  act  of  1869,  as  the  additional  powers  therein  con- 
ferred upon  it,  by  implication,  to  engage  in  the  business  of  con- 
structing and  maintaining  wharves,  piers,  and  docks,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  commerce  and  navigation  generally,  and  not  in  the  prose- 
cution of  its  business  as  defined  and  limited  by  its  original 
charter;  saving  to  the  company  the  right  to  hold  and  use,  as 
part  of  its  way  ground,  or  right  of  way,  the  small  part  of  the 
submerged  lands,  outside  of  its  breakwater  of  1869,  between 
Monroe  and  Washington  Streets,  extended  eastwardly,  which  was 
reclaimed — presumably  upon  the  faith  of  the  act  of  1869— from 
the  lake  in  1873.  Such  appeal  was  attended  with  the  further 
result,  that  while  the  city  of  Chicago  may,  under  its  charter,  pre- 
serve the  harbor,  prevent  obstructions  being  placed  therein,  and 
make  wharves  and  slips,  at  the  ends  of  streets,  the  exercise 
of  those  powers,  and  the  whole  subject  of  the  development  or 
improvement  of  the  harbor  by  a  system  of  wharves,  docks,  piers, 
and  other  structures,  is  with  the  State,  subject  only  to  the  para- 
mount authority  of  the  United  States  under  the  power  of  congress 
to  regulate  commerce." 

An  appeal  to  the  United-States  supreme  court  may  be  taken 
by  any  one  of  the  parties  interested,  viz:  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad  Company,  the  city  of  Chicago,  or  the  state  of  Illinois, 
at  any  time  within  two  years  after  entry  of  decree — Sept.  24,  1888. 

VISIT  OF   FOREIGN    DELEGATES. 

\j 

The  year  1876  brought  new  misfortunes  to  the  affairs  of  the 
company.  Restrictive  legislation  in  Iowa,  of  the  most  aggres- 
sive character,  compelled  a  large  reduction  in  local  tariff  rates  on 
the  lines  in  that  state,  and,  incidentally,  on  all  through  traffic  to 
and  from  all  points  within  the  State.  The  difficulty  was  aggra- 
vated by  a  loss  of  revenue  consequent  upon  a  failure  of  crops 
both  in  Iowa  and  Illinois.  Added  to  this,  there  had  been  a  large 
number  of  new  lines  constructed  throughout  the  West,  but  par- 


106  TRUNK-LINE   WAR. 

ticularly  in  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  for  which  there  was 
no  remunerative  traffic.  The  division  of  the  limited  traffic  over 
so  many  lines  was,  as  Mr.  Wilson  G.  Hunt  aptly  expressed  it, 
like  giving  "one  bone  to  two  dogs."  Competition  became  very 
sharp  and  rates  were  forced  so  low  that  many  of  the  weaker  lines 
were  driven  into  bankruptcy. 

The  crowning  folly  of  this  dark  year  in  railroad  history  was  the 
inauguration  of  the  fierce  trunk-line  war  between  the  Baltimore  - 
and -Ohio  Railroad  and  the  Vanderbilt  lines,  and  in  which  the 
Pennsylvania -Central  was  necessarily  involved.  It  was  largely 
a  struggle  for  supremacy  between  cities,  but  much  personal  bitter- 
ness was  also  engendered.  Mr.  Garrett  boasted  of  his  shorter  line 
to  the  seaport  and  his  cheap  fuel,  and  made  his  demands  accord- 
ingly. Mr.  Vanderbilt  pointed  to  his  curveless  and  gradeless 
four-track  line  as  more  than  an  equivalent.  The  battle  waxed 
sore.  Freight  was  moved  for  some  time  at  rates  below  the  cost 
of  carrying.  Practically,  at  Chicago,  both  of  these  systems 
entered  into  competition  with  the  lakes  and  canal.  The  result 
was  a  loss,  and  both  sides,  weary  of  the  fray,  came  out  of  it  with 
largely  exhausted  resources.  The  introduction  of  larger  grain- 
carrying  vessels  on  the  lakes,  and  the  reduction  of  tolls  on  the 
Erie  Canal,  soon  proved  to  the  trunk-lines  the  folly  of  attempting 
to  compete  with  water-carriage.  The  effect  upon  all  the  weaker 
east-and-west  lines  was  most  disastrous — they  were  compelled 
to  carry  freight  from  all  junction  points  south  of  Chicago  at  the 
same  rates  as  prevailed  at  Chicago.  This,  of  course,  seriously 
affected  the  operations  of  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad,  as  it 
deprived  them  of  the  haul  to  Chicago.  The  result  was  that 
their  traffic,  at  all  the  junction -points  in  Illinois,  was  con- 
fined to  short  hauls  between  the  stations,  changing,  in  fact,  the 
entire  working  of  this  part  of  the  line  by  reducing  it  to  a  local 
business.  This  division  of  traffic,  with  the  loss  of  the  long  haul 
to  Chicago — which  had  for  so  many  years  proved  so  certain  and 
pro'fitable  a  source  of  income  to  the  company  —  proved  very 
injurious  to  its  revenue. 

The  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  affairs  of  the  company — 
which,  however,  reflected  in  no  degree  fairly  upon  the  manage- 


MEETING  OF   SHARE-HOLDERS   IN   LONDON.         107 

merit,  being  due  entirely  to  circumstances  over  which  they  had  no 
control  —  produced  a  feeling  of  restlessness  among  the  foreign 
holders  of  its  shares  who  could  not  so  well  appreciate  the  condi- 
tions which  led  to  it  as  those  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  average  shareholder  will  rest  in  sublime  contentment  and 
with  a  confidence  born  rather  of  calm  indifference  than  of  intel- 
lectual comprehension,  regarding  the  affairs  of  his  company,  so 
long  as  other  brains  are  working  out  successful  results  for  his 
benefit.  He  will  saunter  into  the  treasurer's  office  semi-annually 
or  quarterly,  if  notified,  scrawl  his  name  on  the  dividend-book  in 
a  more  or  less  legible  style,  receive  his  check  in  silence  or  per- 
haps with  a  little  growl,  and  saunter  out  again,  scarcely  troubling 
himself  to  inquire  whether  his  dividend  is  earned  or  only  paid. 
But  woe  be  to  the  luckless  wight  of  an  official,  who,  through  an 
error  of  judgment  or  unforeseen  circumstances,  fails  to  accom- 
plish all  that  he  attempted  in  the  way  of  cash  returns,  even 
though  he  be  fortified  with  the  aforesaid  shareholder's  proxy.  A 
shareholders  meeting  is  a  tame  affair  with  the  shareholders — with 
dividend  -  checks  in  their  pockets  —  absent;  but  a  meeting  of 
shareholders  to  consider  ways  and  means  will  soon  resolve  itself 
into  a  warring  demonstration.  So,  in  this  case,  this  temporary 
check  to  the  company's  prosperity — happily  apparent  rather  than 
real — was  first  felt  on  this  side  of  the  water  where  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  were  better  understood,  and  its  effect  was 
soon  discounted.  London  and  Amsterdam  slowly  responded  to 
the  shock. 

A  meeting  was  held  in  London  on  January  26,  1877,  to  con- 
sider existing  difficulties,  which  was  presided  over  by  Sir  John 
Rose,  and  at  which  were  present  a  large  number  of  English 
shareholders,  and  representatives  of  the  administration  office 
for  American  railroad  securities  in  Amsterdam,  at  which  some 
unnecessary  denunciation  was  indulged  in.  Their  action,  how- 
ever, resulted  in  the  sensible  conclusion  to  appoint  a  joint- 
committee  to  select  delegates  to  proceed  to  New  York,  to  confer 
with  the  directors  and  to  examine  into  the  financial  condition  of 
the  company,  and  then  to  visit  Illinois  and  the  South  to  make  a 
critical  examination  of  the  company's  property  and  report  upon 


108  REPORT   OF   FOREIGN    DELEGATES. 

its  condition  and  resources.  Captain  Douglas  Galton  was  ap- 
pointed on'  behalf  of  the  English  shareholders,  and  H.  de  Marez 
Oyens  on  behalf  of  the  Dutch  shareholders.  They  sailed  for 
New  York  and  held  a  series  of  lengthy  and  very  satisfactory  con- 
ferences with  the  directors,  resulting  in  a  complete  dissipation  of 
the  unfounded  fears  which  had  been  entertained.  They  then 
proceeded  to  Illinois  and  went  over  the  entire  line  with  the 
officers  of  the  company,  making  a  very  thorough  and  critical 
examination  of  the  property  and  of  its  assets.  As  a  result  of 
their  inspection,  they  prepared  and  submitted  to  their  respective 
bodies  of  shareholders,  April  27,  1877 — three  months  after  their 
appointment — a  very  elaborate  report  covering  the  conclusions  at 
which  they  had  arrived  and  giving  their  reasons  in  detail.  It  was 
in  all  respects  highly  complimentary  to  the  directors  and  officers 
of  the  company,  and  justly  so,  and  most  reassuring  to  the  share- 
holders. In  this  report,  they  made  various  suggestions,  which, 
if  carried  into  effect  would,  in  their  judgment,  prove  advanta- 
geous to  the  interests  of  the  company.  Stringent  economies 
were  introduced  into  the  operations  of  the  line,  and  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  delegates  were,  so  far  as  circumstances  would 
permit,  carried  out.  The  price  of  Illinois-Central- Railroad 
shares,  which  had  fallen  to  forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  rapidly 
recovered. 

The  office  of  president  had  been  vacant  since  July,  1876,  at 
which  time  Mr.  John  M.  Douglas  resigned,  and  on  October  17, 
1877,  the  writer,  who  had  filled  the  office  of  vice-president  and 
had  been  acting  president,  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy,  which 
position  he  held  until  August  15,  1883,  afterward  again  serving 
as  vice-president  until  January  1,  1884,  at  which  time  he  retired 
from  the  service. 

The  year  1877  gave  promise  of  better  things  for  the  railways 
of  Illinois.  The  corn  crop  of  that  year  in  this  State  amounted 
to  about  270,000,000  bushels  and  the  wheat  crop  was  about 
32,500,000  bushels.  The  price  of  iron  and  steel  declined  to  a 
very  low  point,  and  railway-supplies  were  correspondingly  low. 
In  Iowa,  the  indications  of  public  sentiment  toward  railways 
were,  temporarily,  somewhat  more  favorable,   as  the  effects  of 


RIOTS   OF   JULY,  1877.  IO9 

injudicious  legislation  on  the  interests  of  the  state  were  beginning 
to  be  felt  by  the  people.  The  unwise  and  restrictive  laws,  which 
had  been  passed,  began  to  cripple  the  railways  and  forbid  further 
investments  of  capital  and  this  had  its  effect  upon  the  legislature 
of  the  state. 

RIOTS    OF   JULY,    1877. 

The  dark  spot  in  railway  history  this  year  was  the  inauguration  - 
of  the  great  railway-strike  which  occurred  in  July.  "Railway- 
strikes  attended  by  riots  were  at  that  time  in  progress  in  several 
of  the  states,  but  the  first  demonstration  in  Chicago  was  at  a 
mass  meeting  of  workingmen,  so  called,  held  Monday  evening, 
July  23,  at  the  corner  of  Madison  and  Market  streets,  at  which 
there  was  about  5000  present.  The  first  indication  of  mob  vio- 
lence occurred  next  morning — Tuesday,  when  a  mob  of  men  and 
boys,  armed  with  clubs  and  sticks,  moved  down  South- Canal 
Street,  compelling  all  workmen  in  the  lumber-yards  and  factories 
to  quit  work.  They  were  dispersed  by  the  police  but  later  on  in 
the  day  another  mob  collected  near  Remington's  gun -store  on 
State  Street.  This  was  dispersed  also  by  the  police.  In  the 
afternoon,  mobs  congregated  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  The 
first  actual  violence  occurred  on  Wednesday,  when  the  rioters 
began  driving  men  from  their  work  and  destroying  property 
in  the  lumber-district,  and  massed  a  large  force  near  McCor- 
mick's  reaper  factory  on  Blue- Island  Avenue.  A  second  mob 
congregated  at  Van  Buren- Street  bridge  and  still  another  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Illinois -Central  elevators.  This  latter  was  most 
effectually  dispersed  by  the  police  under  Lieut.  Bell  and  Sergt. 
Brennan,  who  dealt  with  the  leaders  in  the  most  summary  man- 
ner.' Before  noon,  several  outbreaks  occurred  in  various  parts 
of  the  city  and  the  street -cars  were  compelled  to  stop  running. 
At  the  Chicago,-Burlington-and-Quincy  freight-depot,  five  rioters 
were  shot  dead.  That  evening,  the  rioters  raided  a  gun -store 
and  appropriated  the  stock.  Thursday  morning,  26th,  the  rioters 
were  massed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  i6th-Street  viaduct  and  several 
sanguinary  conflicts  took  place.  At  noon  the  rioting  culminated, 
and  the  police,  who  were  greatly  exhausted  from  their  efforts  of 


110  CONDUCT   OF   EMPLOYES   DURING    RIOTS. 

the  four  previous  days,  were  no  longer  able  to  cope  with  the 
rioters,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  order  out  the  military. 
The  first  and  second  regiments  reported  for  duty;  two  six-pound 
guns  and  two  companies  of  cavalry  were  also  brought  into  ser- 
vice. These  troops  were  stationed  in  different  parts  of  the  city 
and  had  a  quieting  effect  upon  the  surging  crowd,  but  in  one 
instance  they  were  obliged  to  fire  upon  the  rioters.  By  Monday, 
July  31,  the  riot  was  practically  at  an  end.  Owing  to  the  prompt 
measures  resorted  to  and  the  efficiency  of  both  the  police  and 
the  military,  the  city  of  Chicago  happily  escaped  with  small  loss."* 

The  whole  demonstration  had  none  of  the  elements  of  a  strike, 
the  men  were  simply  intimidated  and  feared  to  go  to  work.  The 
property  of  the  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad,  as  was  that  of  many 
others,  was  imperilled  by  the  action  of  lawless  mobs  that 
visited  the  freight -yards  and  shops  of  the  company  and  ordered 
the  engineers  to  stop  moving  trains  and  the  men  to  quit 
work.  These  demonstrations  were  made  in  most  instances  by 
men  not  connected  with  the  railroads.  Almost  all  the  Illinois- 
Central  men  took  a  stand  and  gave  proof  of  their  loyalty  and 
devotion  to  the  company  against  the  rioters,  and  assisted  in  pre- 
serving the  property  of  the  company.  Indeed,  it  is  greatly  to  the 
credit  of  the  men  to  record  the  fact  that,  during  this  trying  or- 
deal, the  company  suffered  no  loss  whatever  beyond  detention  of 
traffic.  All  of  its  rolling-stock  was  removed  to  a  place  of  safety, 
south  of  the  city. 

A  company  of  militia  was  organized  by  volunteers  from  the 
different  departments  of  the  service,  muskets  were  purchased  for 
their  use  and  Col.  James  Noquet,  chief  draughtsman,  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  force  which  was  placed  on  duty  in  the  freight- 
yard.  Many  of  the  men  had  fought  in  the  Union  army,  and 
Col.  Noquet  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  French  army  and  had  led 
troops  against  a  mob  in  the  city  of  Paris.  These  facts  being 
made  known  were  sufficient  to  deter  the  rioters  from  committing 
depredations.  Col.  Noquet  was  assisted  by  Thomas  J.  Tustin, 
William  Wilkinson,  Oliver  A.  Berry,  and  other  faithful  men,  at 
that  time  in  the  service  of  the  company. 

*  "History  of  Chicago,"  by  A.  T.  Andreas,  1885. 


PULLMAN    PALACE- CAR   COMPANY.  Ill 

In  1878,  a  contract  was  entered  into  with  the  Pullman  Palace- 
Car  Company  for  the  use  of  their  sleeping-cars.  Previous  to  this, 
the  company  had  constructed  and  used  its  own  sleeping-cars. 
For  a  number  of  years  after  the  road  was  constructed,  it  was  not 
regarded  as  a  passenger-line.  Indeed,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
the  passenger  receipts  were  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
keeping  up  this  branch  of  the  traffic.  It  had  no  through  con- 
nections of  importance,  but  after  the  acquisition  of  the  southern 
lines  leading  to  New  Orleans  and  to  other  important  points  in  the 
South,  the  character  of  the  business  of  the  line  was  materially 
changed  and  it  gradually  began  to  take  its  place  among  the  first- 
class  passenger-lines  of  the  country,  and  it  became  necessary 
to  devote  greater  attention  to  this  class  of  traffic.  The  introduc- 
tion of  the  elegant  coaches  of  the  Pullman  Company  greatly 
improved  the  service  of  the  company,  a  fact  which  the  travelling 
public  were  not  slow  to  appreciate. 

May  26,  1880,  ground  was  broken  for  the  construction  of  the 
works  of  the  Pullman  Palace-Car  Company  on  land  adjoining 
the  Illinois-Central  tracks,  about  one  mile  north  of  Kensington 
Station.  The  establishment  of  this  model  manufacturing  town 
of  Pullman  upon  the  road,  at  so  convenient  a  distance  from  the 
city,  gave  an  immense  impetus  to  the  suburban  traffic  which, 
though  carried  on  for  many  years,  had  not,  up  to  this  time, 
proved  very  profitable. 

In  1879,  the  company  constructed  a  bridge  across  the  Chicago 
River  under  authority  contained  in  an  ordinance  which  had  been 
passed  many  years  before,  Dec.  1,  1862,  entitled  "an  ordinance 
approving  the  plans  for  a  bridge  to  be  erected  by  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company  across  the  Chicago  River."  This 
connected  its  depot-grounds  on  the  south  side  with  the  lands  of 
the  Chicago  Canal-and-Dock  Company  on  the  north  side.  The 
construction  of  this  bridge  added  immensely  to  the  facilities  of 
the  road,  enabling  it  to  reach  important  connections  on  the  north 
side,  theretofore  only  reached  by  the  circuitous  route  afforded  by 
the  St.  Charles  Air-line  crossing  at  Sixteenth  Street. 

In  1880,  the  Kankakee-and-Southwestern  Road,  a  branch  line 
running  southwest  from  Otto,  was  extended  to  a  junction  with  the 


112     RAILWAY   COMMUNICATION    WITH   THE   SOUTH. 

northern  division  at  Minonk,  thus  giving  an  independent  connec- 
tion between  that  division  and  the  Chicago  branch. 

Steel  rails  were  purchased  this  year  to  complete  in  steel  the 
entire  original  line,  and  when  laid  soon  demonstrated  that  the 
most  remunerative  employment  of  capital  in  a  railway  is  in 
perfecting  its  condition. 

In  1 88 1,  a  brick  elevator,  with  a  capacity  of  600,000  bushels, 
was  erected  at  Cairo;  and  in  Chicago  two  new  docks,  and  the 
substantial  iron  viaduct  at  the  foot  of  Randolph  Street  were  com- 
pleted. In  the  following  year,  additional  terminal  facilities  were 
provided  by  the  construction  of  additional  tracks  from  the  Chi- 
cago-yards south — which  provided  two  tracks  for  freight  trains, 
two  tracks  for  passenger  trains,  and  allowed  two  tracks  to  be 
devoted  entirely  to  suburban  business,  giving  the  road  the  finest 
and  safest  entrance  into  a  great  city  possessed  by  any  railway  in 
the  world. 

In  1883,  the  South -Chicago  Railroad  was  completed  which 
afforded  a  double-track  connection,  about  five  miles  in  length, 
with  this  important  manufacturing  town  and  added  largely  to  the 
suburban  traffic. 


RAILWAY  COMMUNICATION   WITH   THE  SOUTH. 

For  many  years  after  the  completion  of  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad,  the  directors  made  repeated  attempts  to  carry  out  the 
original  intention,  as  contemplated  in  the  act  of  congress  granting 
the  public  lands  to  the  three  states,  by  effecting  an  all  rail  com- 
munication with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Traffic  to  and  from  the 
South  was  gradually  increasing;  and  transhipment  of  produce 
and  merchandise  at  Cairo  by  ferry  to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  a 
distance  of  twenty  miles,  there  connecting  with  the  Mobile -and - 
Ohio  Railroad,  was  attended  with  both  unnecessary  delay  and 
expense.  Accordingly  in  1872,  a  contract  was  entered  into  with 
the  lines  that  were  then  known  as  the  Mississippi -Central  Rail- 
road, 232  miles  in  length,  and  New  Orleans,-Jackson,-and-Great- 
Northern  Railway,  206  miles  in  length — which  were  operated 
under   one   management — providing   for   the  extension  of    the 


MISSISSIPPI-CENTRAL   EXTENDED.  113 

former  line  from  Jackson,  Tennessee,  to  a  point  opposite  Cairo, 
a  distance  of  108  miles,  and  for  a  mutual  interchange  of  traffic. 
Under  this  contract,  the  Illinois-Central  Company  was  to  invest 
annually,  one-eighth  of  its  earnings  from  traffic  to  and  from  those 
lines,  in  their  consolidated  mortgage  bonds  to  the  extent  of  $100,- 
000  per  annum  for  ten  years.  This  contract  was  afterward  modi- 
fied to  the  extent  of  an  engagement  to  purchase  outright  $200,- 
000  of  these  bonds  at  par,  annually,  to  the  extent  of  $6,000,000 
in  all.  This  was  done  in  order  to  enable  the  two  southern  lines 
to  negotiate  the  bonds  so  as  to  procure  the  necessary  means  to 
construct  the  new  intermediate  road  and  make  certain  necessary 
improvements.  The  Mississippi -Central  Road  was  extended  to 
Cairo — work  being  completed  so  that  it  was  opened  for  traffic 
December  24,  1873.  Thin  supplied  a  most  important  link  in  the 
direct  chain  from  Chicago  to  New  Orleans,  a  distance  of  913 
miles. 

The  Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company  subsequently  ex- 
changed $5,000,000  of  its  five-per-cent  bonds  for  the  same 
amount  of  the  seven-per-cent,  southern  bonds  with  the  engage- 
ment to  purchase  attached,  thus  practically  taking  up  its  own 
obligation  with  a  bond  bearing  a  reduced  rate  of  interest. 

The  opening  of  an  all -rail  route  to  the  south  had  the  effect  of 
largely  diverting  traffic  from  the  Mississippi  River;  but  the  south- 
ern roads  had  scarcely  recovered  from  their  impoverished  condi- 
tion following  the  close  of  the  war,  and,  lacking  the  means  to 
properly  equip  and  maintain  them,  they  were  not  in  a  situa- 
tion to  handle  the  large  traffic  offering.  Steel  rails  were  selling 
at  nearly  $100  a  ton  at  this  time,  and  many  other  articles  of  rail- 
way supplies  were  correspondingly  high.  Added  to  this,  the 
financial  panic  of  1873  affected  all  railway  enterprises  throughout 
the  country,  so  that  this  and  the  year  following  were  years  of 
unusual  depression;  the  results  of  the  particular  arrangements 
referred  to  did  not  therefore  immediately  prove  as  satisfactory  as 
was  expected. 

In  1876,  the  roads  between  New  Orleans  and  Cairo  defaulted 
on  their  interest,  and,  on  March  10,  in  that  year,  both  lines  were 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.     Forclosure  proceedings  fol- 
8 


114  REPORT   OF   W.   H.   OSBORN. 

lowed,  and,  as  a  result,  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company- 
became,  after  about  two  years  of  litigation,  practically  the  owner 
of  both  lines,  under  purchase,  and  the  name  of  the  company  own- 
ing the  consolidated  New  Orleans  line  was  changed  to  the  Chicago- 
St.  Louis-and-New  Orleans  Railroad  Company.  It  was  thought 
by  many,  who  were  unfamiliar  with  the  resources  of  the  South, 
that  the  additional  obligation  assumed  by  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad  Company  would  prove  an  onerous  burden,  and,  for  the 
time  being,  it  had  the  effect  of  depressing  the  market-price  of 
its  shares.  After  the  Illinois-Central  Company  obtained  full  con- 
trol of  the  two  lines,  it  completed  their  restoration  to  the  stand- 
ard of  first-class  railways,  and  then  what  was  feared  at  one  time 
might  prove  a  serious  burden  to  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad 
Company  became  in  reality  the  best  paying  portion  of  the  line. 

The  remainder  of  the  story  can  best  be  told  by  producing 
verbatim  the  report  of  Mr.  William  H.  Osborn,  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee,  who,  through  all  these  trying  years,  never 
lost  faith  in  the  ultimate  success  of  the  undertaking,  and  to  whose 
sagacity  and  foresight,  aided  by  the  indomitable  energy  of  Mr. 
James  C.  Clarke,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  lines,  and  the  remark- 
able legal  ability  displayed  by  Judge  James  Fentress,  now  the 
general  solicitor  of  the  Company,  may  be  attributed  the  very 
satisfactory  termination  reached.  This  report  contains  an  epitome 
of  the  entire  transaction  and  is  as  follows: 

Report  of  Mr.  William  H.  Osborn,  chairman  of  the  Chicago,  - 
St.  Louis-and-New  Orleans  Railroad  Company: 

"New  York,  Dec.  30,  1882. 
"To  the   Board  of  Directors 

of  the  Illinois -Central   Railroad  Company: 

"Gentlemen: — This- Railway,  consisting  of  548  miles  of  main- 
track,  31  miles  of  branches,  with  106  locomotives,  2,241  cars, 
and  all  other  property  and  rights  attached  to  it,  with  $1,000,000, 
five-per-cent,  195 1  bonds,  $125,000,  six-per-cent  bonds,  and 
$623,043.70  in  cash  will  be  surrendered  to  you  on  the  first 
Proximo,  in  pursuance  of  the  lease  of  this  property  to  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company,  dated  June  13,  1882,  thus  complet- 


FROM  THE  LAKES  TO  THE  GULF.        115 

ing  your  system  with  a  well -finished  railroad  and  plant  from  the 
lakes  to  New  Orleans. 

"The  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  introduced  in  the  senate  of 
the  United  States  in  1848,  a  bill  'granting  to  the  State  of  Illinois 
the  right  of  way  and  donation  of  public  lands  for  making  a  rail- 
road to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Mississippi 
with  the  chain  of  lakes  at  Chicago.'  This  motion  resulted  in  the 
granting  of  lands  to  Illinois  and  similar  grants  to  Mississippi  and 
Alabama  in  order  to  effect  the  completion  of  this  important  con- 
nection. 

"It  was  the  subject  of  earnest  debate  in  the  senate  in  1850 
and  was  supported  by  Senators  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan,  Henry 
Clay  of  Kentucky,  and  William  H.  Seward  of  New  York.  The 
latter  gentleman,  speaking  of  the  proposed  railroad,  said:  'I 
regard  this  work  as  a  great  national  enterprise — a  great  national 
thoroughfare.'  The  bill,  after  the  advocacy  of  these  distinguished 
statesman,  passed  the  senate  by  a  vote  of  nearly  two  to  one. 

"In  185 1,  the  State  of  Illinois  accepted  a  proposal  to  build  the 
Road,  made  to  it  by  a  prominent  body  of  New  York  and  Boston 
gentlemen,  all  of  whom,  with  but  two  exceptions,  have  passed 
away. 

"The  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  Illinois;  approved  Feb. 
10,  185 1,  constituted  your  present  corporation.  Most  of  the 
directors  named  in  the  charter  became  the  active  managers  of 
the  Company,  and,  before  the  Illinois-Central  Road  was  com- 
pleted, the  directors  communicated  with  those  of  the  Mobile-and- 
Ohio  Road,  and  upon  several  occasions  endeavored  to  promote 
the  completion  of  that  line  to  Cairo;  but  the  Mobile -and -Ohio 
Road  did  not  reach  Cairo  until  a  recent  period.  The  public 
events  which  arrested  the  progress  of  the  country  for  so  many 
years  left  the  railroads  south  of  the  Ohio  River  in  the  most 
dilapidated  and  ruinous  condition.  There  was  no  railway  com- 
munication from  Cairo  south  until  1874. 

"Previous  to  your  line  reaching  Cairo,  the  products  of  Louisi- 
ana were  shipped  by  steamboats  to  St.  Louis,  trans-shipped  up 
the  Illinois  River  by  smaller  steamboats,  trans-shipped  again  to 
canal-boats,  and  reached  Chicago  by  the  Michigan  Canal.     These 


Il6  COMMERCE   OF   THE   SOUTH. 

three  transfers  caused  a  delay  of  a  month  or  six  weeks.  The 
grain  and  provisions,  which  were  so  indispensable  to  the  South, 
were  sent  in  the  same  circuitous  way.  I^ater  on,  this  traffic  was 
connected  with  your  road  at  Cairo  but  in  a  very  unsatisfactory 
manner,  as  most  of  the  commerce  upon  the  Lower  Mississippi 
was  destined  for  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati;  Cairo  was  not  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  command  exclusive  lines  of  boats  upon  the 
river.  Moreover,  this  river  communication  was  oftentimes  very 
expensive;  the  frequent  transfers  required  expensive  packing  of 
provisions;  grain  was  sent  in  bags;  and  upon  the  north-bound 
freight,  chiefly  sugar  and  molasses,  the  waste  and  shrinkage  was 
serious.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  rates  of  rail  transportation 
today  from  New  Orleans  to  Chicago,  and  from  Chicago  south, 
are  not  equivalent  to  the  loss  by  shrinkage  and  waste  upon  the 
sugar  and  molasses  in  former  times,  or  to  the  cost  of  packing  the 
provisions  sent  south,  which  is  not  now  required  under  the  present 
modes  of  shipment  by  rail.  Thus  the  producer  is  brought  close 
to  the  consumer  at  least  expense.  It  is  a  moderate  estimate  to 
say  that  the  prices  of  provisions  and  grain,  hay,  and  other  products 
of  the  North,  now  ruling  in  the  South,  are  lessened  one -third 
by  the  advantage  of  the  present  rail  communication. 

"The  Illinois- Central  directors,  in  1872,  unanimously  agreed 
to  advance  about  $5,000,000  toward  the  extension  of  the  Missis- 
sippi-Central Road  to  Cairo,  and  to  the  improvement  of  the 
Jackson  Road  to  New  Orleans.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  waste  words 
upon  the  failure  in  the  expectations  of  the  Company.  These 
advances  at  one  time  appeared  to  be  lost  through  the  failure  of 
the  Southern  lines  to  pay  the  interest  upon  the  bonds  purchased. 
These  circumstances  are  well  known  to  the  present  board.  It 
may  be  well  to  remember  that  in  February,  1876,  the  board  of 
directors  were  willing  to  take  the  control  of  the  property  bur- 
dened with  a  debt  of  $18,372,834,  with  an  annual  interest  charge 
of  $1,404,655.97,  and  to  spend  $2,000,000  additional  in  the 
necessary  improvement  to  the  property.  Negotiations  to  this 
end  failed,  and  foreclosure  proceedings  were  commenced  by 
filing  a  bill  in  the  federal  courts  in  the  spring  of  1876.  These 
proceedings  terminated  happily  in  1877,  and  the  two  roads  were 


NORTH   AND   SOUTH   TRUNK    LINE.  117 

purchased  that  year  in  behalf  of  the  bondholders  on  equal  terms 
— the  Illinois-Central  holding  a  majority  of  the  bonds  in  default. 
The  legal  steps  in  the  foreclosure  were  directed  by  the  Hon.  John 
A.  Campbell  and  the  Hon.  James  Emott,  and,  later,  by  our 
present  solicitor-general,  the  Hon.  Jas.  Fentress  of  New  Orleans. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  under  the  counsel  of  these  eminent  lawyers, 
we  have  not  had  to  retrace  our  steps  in  any  one  instance. 
Repeated  legislation  was  required  from  all  four  of  the  Southern 
States,  and  ordinances  from  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  other 
municipalities,  all  of  which  were  obtained  promptly  and  honestly. 
The  desire  of  the  Southern  people  to  have  a  first-class  railroad 
was  expressed  through  the  governors  of  the  states  and  the  legis- 
latures, who  gave  every  assistance  which  could  consistently  be 
granted.  This  new  Company  is  now  constituted  a  corporation 
in  perpetuity  with  the  right  to  lease  other  roads  or  to  lease  its 
own  road  to  the  Illinois-Central  Company.  The  acts,  deeds,  and 
papers  have  been  carefully  examined.  Your  possession  of  this 
property  is  as  absolute  as  if  the  original  charters  had  been  granted 
to  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  directly. 

"I  have,  therefore,  the  satifaction  of  concluding  the  active 
existence  of  this  corporation  which  has  had  only  five  years  of 
duration.  Your  road  constitutes  the  most  important  north  and 
south  trunk  line  in  the  world.  The  traffic  is  chiefly  in  the  inter- 
change of  commodities,  the  exclusive  growth  of  the  South  for 
commodities  grown  in  the  north,  and  is  of  indispensable  necessity 
to  a  population  of  six  or  eight  millions  of  people.  The  location 
of  the  line  is  so  direct  that  this  traffic  is  perhaps  less  open  to 
competition  than  that  of  any  other  line  on  this  continent. 

"Soon  after  the  appointment  of  receivers  in  1876,  I  induced 
those  gentlemen  to  appoint  Mr.  James  C.  Clarke  the  general 
manager  of  both  lines.  It  required  the  whole  term  of  the 
receiverships  to  catch  up  with  arrears.  The  employes  were  un- 
paid for  several  months;  there  were  not  fifty  tons  of  spare  rails 
upon  the  road;  no  supplies  in  the  machine-shops;  no  fuel  on 
hand.  The  demoralization  of  unpaid  employe's  is  always  dan- 
gerous, leads  to  accidents,  puts  the  lives  of  all  the  passengers  in 
peril  and  causes  the  death  of  some.     There  was  a  fatality  attend- 


Il8  RESULT   OF   CLARKE'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

ing  these  lines  at  that  time.  The  route  was  avoided;  many 
travelers  preferred  to  take  their  chance  upon  the  river  rather  than 
face  the  dangers  of  the  track.  Mr.  Clarke  had  not  the  power  to 
restore  order  and  discipline  to  the  management  of  this  property 
until  the  termination  of  the  receiverships,  January  i,  1878.  From 
that  date,  full  control  of  the  working  of  the  line  has  rested  upon 
him.  Knowing  him  for  many  years,  his  experience,  his  perfect 
integrity,  his  thoroughness  in  every  detail  of  railroad  construc- 
tion and  management,  I  have  never  interposed  my  comparatively 
imperfect  knowledge  of  railway  affairs. 

"Mr.  Clarke  has  rebuilt  this  line  from  its  ashes.  At  the 
machine-shops  were  piles  of  broken  cars;  and  the  remnants  of 
locomotive  boilers,  which  had  been  exploded  for  years,  were  still 
maintained  on  the  books  of  the  Company  as  engines.  The 
bridges  all  required  renewing;  the  ties  were  rotten  and  defective. 
From  this  confusion,  Mr.  Clarke  now  delivers  to  you  a  well-con- 
structed and  equipped  railroad.  35  engines  and  1200  cars  have 
been  built  in  the  shops  of  the  Company;  24)^  miles  of  bridging 
have  been  built;  3J/2  miles  of  open  trestle-work  have  been  filled 
up  with  solid  embankments;  1,341,500  new  cross -ties  have  been 
put  in,  equal  to  2,080  ties  per  mile  on  this  whole  road  and  side 
tracks.  The  road  has  been  extended  3^  miles  to  East  Cairo;  a 
spur  line  of  12  miles  to  Lexington  is  nearly  completed;  the 
passenger  equipment  renewed  and  doubled;  the  wooden  truss 
bridges  replaced  with  iron ;  every  bar  of  iron  has  been  taken  from 
the  track,  which  is  now  laid  entirely  with  steel;  200  miles  of 
track  ballasted  with  stone  or  gravel,  and  over  100  miles  of  the 
road  have  been  fenced.  It  was  indispensable  to  change  the 
gauge,  adopting  the  standard  gauge  of  the  North,  which  of  course 
required  the  change  of  all  the  motive  power  and  rolling-stock. 
This  has  been  done.  The  side  tracks  were  insufficient — 15  miles 
of  new  side  track  have  been  added,  the  shops  furnished  with  new 
machinery  sufficient  for  the  repair  and  construction  of  engines 
and  cars  at  both  of  the  principal  machine-shops;  new  shops  have 
been  built  at  Jackson,  Tennessee.  The  improvements  to  the 
road  render  it  safe;  the  trains  are  now  running  from  New  Orleans 
to  Chicago,  about  the  same  distance  as  from  New  York  to  Chi- 


SERVICES  OF  JUDGE   FENTRESS.  1 19 

cago,  at  about  the  same  speed.  Passengers  going  to  St.  Louis 
were  formerly  two  nights  and  one  day  on  the  road;  they  are  now 
taken  thiough  in  twenty-nine  hours.  The  station-grounds  on  the 
river-bank  at  New  Orleans  were  insufficient;  large  and  valuable 
property  has  been  purchased,  and  a  freight-station,  which  accom- 
modates the  West-Indian  and  Mediterranean  freight  business, 
built  near  the  river  front. 

"These  betterments,  which  have  cost  about  $5,000,000,  have 
been  paid  for  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  property.  The  road  is 
not  overlaid  with  debt  to  correspond  to  these  outlays.  On  the 
contrary,  its  improved  condition  and  the  increase  of  traffic  bene- 
fitted the  credit  of  the  corporation  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has 
been  practicable  to  issue  and  sell  five-per-cent  bonds  to  take  up 
the  older  issues  of  six's,  seven's,  and  eight's.  In  this  way,  the 
interest  charge  upon  the  property,  which  is  intrinsically  worth 
$5,000,000  more  than  it  was  in  1876,  has  been  actually  reduced 
$37°o°5-97  per  annum  and  its  debt  from  $18,372,834  to  $17,- 
000,000. 

"The  services  of  Judge  Fentress  in  arranging  and  settling  the 
many  legal  complications  which  cumbered  and  afflicted  this  rail- 
way and  in  securing  the  legislation  affecting  its  powers  for  all 
time,  though  not  as  conspicuous  to  the  eye  as  those  of  Mr. 
Clarke,  have  been  equally  valuable  and  of  as  much  permanent 
importance.  Annexed  to  this  statement  is  an  exhibit  of  the 
legislation  in  the  several  states. 

"The  Company  has  no  engagements  with  other  railway  cor- 
porations excepting  those  for  the  construction  of  the  two  lines  in 
Mississippi,  which  have  been  entered  into  under  your  direction 
and  by  your  authority.  Its  recent  contract  with  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company  is  open  to  revision  at  short  periods, 
and  the  engagement  with  the  Pullman  Southern  Car  Company 
can  be  terminated  at  the  option  of  the  Company  in  1884.  It  is 
free  from  floating  debt  and  free  from  litigation. 

"You  take  this  productive  property  with  a  surplus  in  hand  and 
with  all  the  powers  necessary  for  its  future  management.  You 
now  own  $5,000,000  of  the  five-per-cent  bonds,  for  which  there 
is  no  immediate  use  as  the  requirements  of  the  Southern  line 


120         REPORT  OF  JAMES  C.  CLARKE. 

upon  capital  account  are  drawing  to  a  close  and  can  /eadily  be 
met  from  the  earnings  of  the  property.  I  therefore  leg  to  sug- 
gest to  your  consideration  the  cancellation  of  this  $5,oco,ooo  of 
bonds,  thus  reducing  the  debt  to  $13,000,000,  upon  which  the 
interest  charge  will  eventually  be  $650,000.  This  reduction  of 
interest  charge  will  enable  you  to  pay  larger  dividends  upon  the 
$10,000,000  of  stock  now  the  property  of  your  shareholders. 
This  step  will  reduce  your  entire  fixed  charges  to  about  $1,350,- 
000  on  1525  miles  of  railway. 

"For  the  next  thirteen  years,  you  have  no  debt  to  provide  for. 
$2,500,000  of  your  bonds  fall  due  in  1895.  I*  seems  unwise 
to  hold  $5,000,000  of  your  own  executed  obligations  available  at 
any  moment.  The  experience  of  nearly  thirty  years  strengthens 
my  impression  that  prosperity — leading  to  unwise  expenditures — 
is  oftentimes  as  dangerous  as  adverse  crops,  with  consequent  loss 
of  traffic  affecting  income.  The  specific  for  accuracy  in  accounts 
and  economy  in  expenditures  appears  to  be — to  take  all  expenses 
including  construction  out  of  income  and  divide  the  surplus  only. 

"I  beg  to  refer  to  you  the  annexed  exhibits  and  reports. 

"In  retiring  from  this  trust,  I  have  every  reaion  to  believe  that 
the  New- Orleans  division  of  the  Illinois -Central  is  in  charge  of 
zealous,  faithful,  and  experienced  men. 

W.  H.  Osborn,   Chairman" 

Report  of  Mr.  James  C.  Clarke,  general  manager  of  the  Chi- 
cago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Company: 

"New  Orleans,  La.,  January  1,  1883. 

"To  the  Shareholders  of  the 

Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Co.: 
"Gentlemen: — I  was  elected  vice-president  and  general  mana- 
ger of  this  company  in  January,  1878.  At  that  time,  the  equip- 
ment of  the  road  in  motive  power  and  rolling-stock  consisted  of 
80  locomotives  and  1240  cars.  At  the  present  time,  this  Com- 
pany has  166  locomotives  and  2242  cars  of  all  kinds.  Many  of 
the  engines  and  cars  on  the  schedule  in  1878  have  been  rebuilt 
and  renewed.     Some  were  condemned  as  unsafe  for  future  use. 


REDUCTION   OF   GRADES   RECOMMENDED.  121 

1 1  of  the  old  engines  were  sold,  their  capacity  to  draw  heavy 
trains  being  too  light  for  profitable  use. 

"The  report  of  the  chairman  of  our  board,  dated  December, 
30,  to  the  directors  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company— 
now  the  lessee  of  this  railroad  —  treats  of  the  work  which  has 
been  done  on  track,  building  bridges,  engines,  cars,  ballasting, 
fencing,  depot -grounds,  side  tracks,  shops,  machinery,  steel  rails, 
change  of  gauge,  etc.,  etc.,  in  a  general  way.  It  is,  therefore, 
considered  unnecessary  to  refer  again  to  them.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  1877,  there  were  60  miles  of  steel  rails  on  the  track. 
On  December  31,  1882,  the  whole  main  track,  548  miles,  is  laid 
in  steel  rails. 

"Reduction  of  Grades  between  Jackson,  Tenn.,  and 
Canton. — The  maximum  of  grades  on  this  portion  of  the  road 
.has  been  reduced  from  60  feet  per  mile  to  a  maximum  of  40  feet 
per  mile,  few  exceeding  35  feet  per  mile. 

"This  has  enabled  our  engines  to  draw  over  this  portion  of  the 
road  six  to  eight  loaded  cars  more  per  train  than  the  engines  of 
the  same  class  were  able  to  do  before  the  grades  were  reduced, 
thus  largely  reducing  the  expenses  in  train  service  by  increasing 
the  earnings  per  train. 

"The  portion  of  the  line  between  Jackson,  Tenn.,  and  East 
Cairo,  no  miles,  has  some  grades  of  52  feet  or  more  per  mile. 
It  was  constructed  with  these  grades.  Evidently  the  question  of 
economy  in  operating  the  line  as  a  channel  of  commerce  was  not 
considered  in  adopting  such  grades.  I  recommend  to  the  lessee 
to  reduce  these  grades  to  a  maximum  of  40  feet  per  mile.  The 
work  may  be  done  gradually,  and  the  outlay  spread  over  a  series 
of  years.  I  am  sure  it  will  pay  to  reduce  the  grades  on  this 
portion  of  the  road. 

"In  these  times  of  low  rates  for  transportation  service,  nothing 
is  more  conducive  to  economy  in  operating  a  railroad  than  low 
grades,  steel  rails,  a  well -ballasted  track,  large  engines,  and  slow 
speed  of  heavy  freight-trains. 

"Capital  Account. — There  is  at  present  nothing  to  call  for 
any  immediate  large  outlay  of  money. 

"It  is  proposed   to  build  four  combined   brick,  freight-  and 


122  VALUE   OF   NEGRO   LABOR. 

passenger-stations  on  the  line  during  the  coming  year,  costing  in 
all  about  $15,000,  and  to  revise  and  remodel  the  freight-houses 
and  yards  and  tracks  at  the  levee  station  in  New  Orleans,  to 
adapt  them  to  handle  the  business  with  less  force  and  expense 
than  we  now  incur.  The  increased  facility  and  decreased  ex- 
penses in  transacting  business  at  this  station  will  compensate  for 
the  outlay  to  be  made. 

"Motive  Power. — The  present  equipment  of  engines  seems 
to  be  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  road  until  the  business  shall 
increase  to  require  more  power. 

"Ballasting.  —  I  recommend  to  the  lessee  the  continuance 
of  this  important  matter,  gradually,  as  we  have  heretofore  done 
during  the  summer  months,  when  the  traffic  is  light  and  the 
engines  and  cars  can  be  spared  from  service  to  transport  it 

"Fencing. — This  necessary  precaution  to  avoid  accidents  and, 
prevent  paying  damages  for  stock  injured  or  killed,  which,  in  the 
past  five  years,  has  amounted  to  upward  of  $60,000,  should  be 
gradually  pursued  until  the  whole  line  is  enclosed. 

"Machine -Shops,  Machinery,  and  Tools.  —  The  present 
condition  of  this  plant  and  its  location  is  all  that  will  be  required 
on  this  line  until  its  business  and  traffic  shall  be  increased  fifty 
per  cent  more  than  it  now  is. 

"Steel  Rails. — It  will  be  necessary  to  buy  150  to  200  tons 
per  year  to  make  frogs  and  switches  and  provide  for  those, 
now  in  track,  which  may  be  broken  or  rendered  unfit  for  use  by 
reason  of  accidents. 

"Labor.  —  During  the  past  five  years,  this  Company  has 
employed  a  large  amount  of  unskilled  labor,  consisting  chiefly 
of  negroes.  My  experience  with  this  class  of  labor  has  been 
very  satisfactory.  When  intelligently  directed,  properly  treated, 
and  justly  dealt  with,  there  is  no  better  laborer  than  the  negro  to 
be  found  among  any  race  in  the  world.  They  are  peculiarly 
fitted  for  labor  in  semi-tropical  climates,  and  by  nature  cheerful, 
obedient,  kind,  imitative,  and  contented.  They  are  fast  learning 
that  "freedom"  means  honesty,  industry,  and  intelligence.  They 
are  now  a  valuable  laboring  population,  and  each  year,  as  they 
acquire  education,  they  will  become  better  citizens.    They  should 


BETTERMENTS   MADE   FROM    INCOME.  1 23 

be  justly  dealt  with  and  treated  with  the  respect  due  all  honest 
laborers. 

"Capital  Required  for  Future  Improvements.  —  From 
the  past  five  years'  experience,  I  feel  I  am  justified  in  saying  that 
this  property,  managed  as  we  have  no  doubt  it  will  be,  will  furnish 
the  funds  to  make  the  betterments  and  improvements  that  may 
be  necessary,  as  well  as  to  provide  for  the  fixed  charges  and 
rentals. 

"The  Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company  has,  today,  assumed 
the  control  and  management  of  this  property  as  lessee.  Here- 
after its  earnings  and  expenses  will  appear  in  the  accounts  of 
that  Company,  under  the  head  of  the  'Southern  Division  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company.' 

"Conclusion. — As  you  are  aware,  the  managers  of  this 
.property,  during  these  past  five  years,  have  made  no  published 
report.  -  All  our  receipts,  during  these  five  years,  have  been 
applied  to  the  operating  expenses,  and  reconstruction,  and  to 
the  interest  on  the  prior  liens,  styled  the  first  and  second  mort- 
gage bonds.  I  have  not  endeavored  to  draw  a  nice  distinction 
between  operating  expenses  and  construction  account.  After 
providing  for  the  interest  on  the  prior  liens,  I  have  used  the 
remainder  of  the  money  in  rebuilding  this  road.  It  is  now  in 
such  a  condition  that  I  feel  it  safe  to  say  that  it  can  be  main- 
tained and  steadily  improved  at  about  sixty  per  cent  of  its  gross 
earnings.  The  gross  earnings,  during  the  past  five  years,  have 
been  as  follows : 

1878    .....    ..    $2,842,434.15 

1879 3,357,305-00 

1880    ..    ..    ..  3,716,902.42 

1881 4,059,151.40 

1882    ...    ..    ..  3,820,996.83 

A  yearly  average  of    $3,559,357-9° 

"The  report  of  the  chairman  of  the  board  referred  to  gives 
the  results  of  our  stewardship  of  your  property. 

"With  a  sense  of  gratitude  to  officers  and  employes  in  every 
grade  of  the  service  for  their  zeal,  anxiety,  and  devotion  at  all 


124  ACTION   OF   THE   BOARD   Of   DIRECTORS. 

times  to  promote  the  Company's  interest,  and  the  cheerful  coop- 
eration and  aid  rendered  to  me  in  the  management,  I  desire  to 
place  my  acknowledgments  on  the  records  of  the  Company. 
Respectfully, 

James  C.  Clarke,  General  Manager." 

This  report  was  submitted  to  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  direc- 
tors, held  January  17,  1883,  and  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions  were  adopted : 

[Extract  from  the  minutes :] 

"The  report  of  Mr.  William  H.  Osborn,  chairman  of  the 
Chicago,  -  St.  Louis  -  and  -  New  -  Orleans  Railroad  Company,  ad- 
dressed to  this  board  under  date  of  December  30,  1882,  accom- 
panied by  the  report  of  the  Hon.  James  Fentress,  general 
solicitor,  addressed  to  him,  under  date  of  December  8,  1882; 
and,  also,  the  report  of  Mr.  James  C.  Clarke,  general  manager  of 
the  Chicago,  -  St.  Louis  -  and  -  New  -  Orleans  Railroad  Company, 
addressed  to  the  shareholders  of  that  Company,  under  date  of 
January  1,  1883,  having  been  submitted  and  read,  it  was,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Webster,  duly  seconded, 

"Resolved,  That  these  reports  be  accepted  by  this  board, 
printed,  and  a  copy  thereof  transmitted  to  each  shareholder  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  and  to  each  holder  of 
the  leased  line  stock  certificates  issued  against  the  shares  of  the 
Chicago, -St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Company. 

"That  this  board  desires  to  express  and  place  on  record  its 
high  appreciation  of  the  wisdom,  zeal,  and  unflagging  fidelity 
with  which  Mr.  Osborn,  Mr.  Clarke,  and  Mr.  Fentress,  and  every 
other  officer  whose  work  has  come  under  the  observation  of  this 
board,  have  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Chicago, -St.  Louis-and- 
New-Orleans  Company  since  the  property  was  placed  in  their 
hands.  And  the  president  of  the  Illinois-Central  Company  is 
hereby  directed  to  express  to  those  officers  of  the  Chicago, -St. 
Louis-and-New-Orleans  Company  the  thanks  of  this  board  for 
the  gratifying  results  which  their  labors  have  done  so  much  to 
accomplish." 


PRESIDENTS   LETTER   TO   MR.   OSBORN.  1 25 

The  following,  moved  by  Mr.  Elliott,  and  duly  seconded,  was 
also  adopted : 

"In  view  of  these  highly  satisfactory  reports,  the  board  deems 
it  desirable  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Illinois-Central  share- 
holders specifically  to  the  increased  value  of  their  property  result- 
ing from  the  intelligent  and  unwearied  efforts  of  the  officers  who 
have  been  charged  with  the  care  and  development  of  the  South- 
ern line;  therefore,  be  it 

" Resolved,  That  the  board  recommends  to  the  shareholders, 
at  their  next  annual  meeting,  to  take  such  action  as  they  may 
deem  best  to  express  their  appreciation  of  the  results  thus 
obtained  and  their  recognition  of  the  services  rendered." 

In  obedience  to  the  request  of  the  board  of  directors,  the 
president  addressed  letters  to  Mr.  Osborn,  Judge  Fentress,  and 
Mr.  Clarke,  expressing  the  thanks  of  the  board  of  which  the 
following  are  copies: 

"Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company, 
president's   office. 
Chicago,  January  24,  1883. 
"William  H.  Osborn,  Esq.,  New  York: 

"My  Dear  Sir: — At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  held  on  the  17th  instant, 
your  report  to  them,  dated  December  30,  1882,  was  submitted, 
read,  ordered  to  be  printed,  and  copies  mailed  to  each  share- 
holder and  leased-line  certificate -holder  of  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad  Company. 

"The  following  resolution  was  offered  by  Mr.  Sidney  Webster, 
duly  seconded,  and  passed  unanimously : 

"Resolved,  That  these  reports  be  accepted  by  this  board, 
printed,  and  a  copy  thereof  transmitted  to  each  shareholder  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  and  to  each  holder  of  the 
leased-line  stock -certificates,  issued  against  the  shares  of  the 
Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Company — that 
this  board  desires  to  express  and  place  on  record  its  high  appre- 
ciation of  the  wisdom,  zeal,  and  unflagging  fidelity  with  which 
Mr.  Osborn,  Mr.  Clarke,  and  Mr.  Fentress,  and  every  other 
officer  whose  work  has  come  under  the  observation  of  the  board, 


126  ackerman's  recollections. 

have  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Chicago, -St.  Louis -and -New  - 
Orleans  Company  since  the  property  was  placed  in  their  hands. 
And  the  president  of  the  Illinois  -  Central  is  hereby  directed  to 
express  to  those  officers  of  the  Chicago,  -  St.  Louis  -  and  -  New  - 
Orleans  Company  the  thanks  of  this  board  for  the  gratifying 
results  which  their  labors  have  done  so  much  to  accomplish. 

"Also  the  following,  offered  by  Mr.  John  Elliott: 

"  In  view  of  these  highly  satisfactory  reports,  the  board  deems 
it  desirable  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Illinois-Central  sharehold- 
ers specifically  to  the  increased  value  of  their  property  resulting 
from  the  intelligent  and  unwearied  efforts  of  the  officers  who 
have  been  charged  with  the  care  and  development  of  the  South- 
ern line;  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  the  board  recommends  to  the  shareholders  at 
their  next  annual  meeting  to  take  such  action  as  they  may  deem 
best  to  express  their  appreciation  of  the  results  thus  obtained 
and  their  recognition  of  the  services  rendered. 

"I  do  not  know  that  I  can  add  anything  that  will  emphasize 
more  distinctly  the  sincere  gratification  felt  by  the  board  on  the 
completion  of  your  work  and  I  fear  that  I  shall  but  feebly  convey 
to  you  the  proper  expression  of  their  feeling.  Remembering,  as 
I  do,  the  physical  condition  of  the  Chicago, -St.  Louis -and -New 
Orleans  Railroad  six  years  ago,  and  the  complicated  state  of  its 
finances  and  affairs  generally,  the  work  which  you  have  just  com- 
pleted seems  to  me  the  most  remarkable  exhibition  of  energy, 
skill,  and  untiring  perseverance,  ever  recorded  in  the  history  of 
railroad  management.  Words  fail  me  to  properly  express  the 
appreciation  which  I  am  sure  every  member  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company  feels  in  refer- 
ence to  the  prominent  part  you  have  taken  in  rescuing  this 
property  and  in  protecting  the  interests  of  the  Illinois -Central 
shareholders.  This  work  has  been  to  you  at  times  one  of  great 
discouragement  as  well  as  intense  anxiety;  but  the  grand  result 
accomplished,  now  commanding  the  attention  of  those  interested 
with  you,  will,  I  am  sure,  compensate  you  for  your  labors  and 
call  out  from  the  shareholders  a  more  earnest  expression  of 
approval  than  has  yet  been  given.  Even  without  this,  I  am  sure 
that  the  eminent  satisfaction  you  will  enjoy  arising  from  the  con- 
scientious application  of  your  energies  in  developing  and  bring- 


PRESIDENT   ACKERMAN   TO    FENTRESS.  12/ 

ing  to  a  successful  conclusion  so  arduous  a  work  as  you  have 
been  charged  with,  would  of  itself  amply  repay  you  for  the 
harassing  cares  which  have  surrounded  you  in  its  prosecution. 

"Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  express  to  you  my  own  sense  of 
the  great  obligation  under  which  you  have  placed  us,  and  to 
express  the  hope  that,  although  in  the  future  you  may  not  be 
engaged  in  the  active  management  of  the  line,  yet  that  we  may 
be  favored  from  time  to  time  with  your  kind  cooperation,  and 
may  have  the  benefit  of  your  long  experience,  gained  in  the 
management  of  the  Illinois-Central  property  for  a  period  of  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

"I  remain,  with  great  respect, 

"Yours  very  truly, 

Wm.  K.  Ackerman,  President" 

"Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company, 
president's  office. 
Chicago,  January  24,  1883. 
"Hon.  James  Fentress,  New  Orleans: 

"My  Dear  Sir:  —  At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  held  on  the  17th  instant, 
the  very  able  and  comprehensive  report  prepared  by  you  as 
solicitor  general  of  the  Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Rail- 
road Company,  and  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  of  that  Company,  covering  a  period  of  five  years  past 
and  giving  a  synopsis  of  the  legislation  obtained  during  your 
management  of  the  legal  department  during  that  time,  was  laid 
before  the  board,  together  with  the  reports  of  the  chairman  and 
general-manager.  They  were  read  in  full,  accepted  by  the  board, 
ordered  to  be  printed,  and  copies  thereof  sent  to  each  share- 
holder and  to  each  leased-line  certificate-holder  of  the  Company. 

"The  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  Messrs.  Webster 
and  Elliott,  duly  seconded,  and  passed  unanimously: 

[Same  preamble  and  resolutions  as  contained  in  letter  to  Mr. 
William  H.  Osborn.] 

"From  the  foregoing,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  made  my  pleas- 
ing duty  to  convey  to  you  the  thanks  of  the  board,  as  expressed 


128  PRESIDENT   ACKERMAN   TO   CLARKE. 

in  the  above  resolutions,  which  I  take  great  pleasure  in  doing. 
There  was  but  a  single  expression  on  the  part  of  all  the  members 
of  the  board  and  that  was  one  of  full  appreciation  of  the  very 
able  manner  in  which  you  have  conducted  the  legal  business  of 
the  Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Company  since 
that  line  first  came  into  the  possession  or  under  the  control  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company.  The  management  of  the 
department,  over  which  you  have  so  successfully  presided  during 
the  past  five  years,  has  been  eminently  satisfactory,  and  the  board 
feel  that  there  is  due  to  you  an  expression  of  the  high  sense  of 
obligation  under  which  you  have  placed  the  shareholders  of  the 
Company  for  the  very  happy  results  that  you  have  obtained. 

"Desiring  to  add  my  own  personal  congratulations  and  good 
wishes,  and  trusting  that  our  future  relations  will  be  as  pleasant 
and  harmonious  as  they  have  been  in  the  past, 
"I  remain,  with  great  respect, 

Yours  very  truly, 

Wm.   K.  Ackerman,  President." 

"Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company, 
president's  office. 

Chicago,  January  24,  1883. 
"James  C.  Clarke,  Esq.,  New  Orleans: 

"My  Dear  Sir: — At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  held  on  the  17th  instant, 
the  report  prepared  by  you  dated  January  1,  1883,  and  addressed 
to  the  shareholders  of  the  Chicago,-St.  Louis-and-New-Orleans 
Railroad  Company,  was  submitted,  read,  ordered  to  be  printed, 
and  copies  thereof  mailed  to  each  shareholder  of  the  Illinois- 
Central  Railroad  Company. 

"The  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  Messrs.  Webster 
and  Elliott,  duly  seconded,  and  passed  unanimously: 

[Same  preamble  and  resolutions  as  contained  in  letter  to  Mr. 
William  H.  Osborn.] 

"From  the  foregoing,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  made  my  duty 
to  express  to  you,  as  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Chicago,-St.  Louis- 
and-New-Orleans  Railroad  Company,  the  thanks  of  the  board  for 


HON.   JOHN   A.   CAMPBELL.  1 29 

the  efforts  put  forward  by  you  during  the  past  five  years  and 
which  have  resulted  in  bringing  this  property  to  its  present  very 
satisfactory  condition.  Although  the  board  of  directors  have 
now  by  formal  resolution  more  particularly  called  the  attention 
of  the  shareholders  to  your  efforts  in  accomplishing  so  desirable 
a  result,  yet  I  am  sure  that,  during  all  the  time  you  have  been  so 
engaged,  they  have  never  ceased  to  feel  how  great  was  the  obliga- 
tion under  which  you  had  placed  them.  Of  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  I  know  full  well  with  what  difficulties  you  have  had  to 
contend  and  the  many  adverse  circumstances  with  which  you  have 
been  surrounded.  In  1874,  I  passed  over  the  line  of  road  which 
you  have  practically  rebuilt.  Comparing  my  recollections  at 
that  time  with  its  present  condition,  I  can  better  and  more 
fully  appreciate  what  a  work  you  have  accomplished.  The  Chi- 
cago, -  St.  Louis  -  and  -  New  -  Orleans  Railroad  from  this  time  on 
becomes  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  old  line,  which  it  has  been  the 
good  fortune  of  both  of  us  to  serve  for  so  many  years  together. 
I  sincerely  trust  that  our  relations,  personal  and  official,  will  be 
as  pleasant  and  cordial  in  the  future  as  they  have  been  in  the 
past.     Believe  me,  dear  Mr.  Clarke,  yours  very  sincerely, 

Wm.  K.  Ackerman,  President." 

In  addition  to  the  reports  made  by  Mr.  Osborn  and  Mr. 
Clarke,  was  one  furnished  by  Judge  James  Fentress,  then  of 
Bolivar,  Tennessee,  giving  a  concise  statement  of  the  legal  history 
of  the  case.  He,  with  Hon.  John  A.  Campbell  of  New  Orleans 
— ex-attorney-general  of  the  United  States  and  at  one  time  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  United -States  supreme  court — had  been 
most  active  in  the  management  of  the  company's  legal  affairs  in 
the  South,  and  with  consummate  skill  had  been  instrumental  in 
bringing  them  to  a  successfnl  result.  Both  Judge  Campbell  and 
Judge  Fentress — owing  to  their  great  ability  and  thorough  famil- 
iarity with  the  laws  of  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana, 
the  latter  unusually  complex — were  enabled  to  render  most  valu- 
able services  in  expediting  settlements  of  complicated  legal 
questions.  Judge  Fentress  is  now  the  general -solicitor  of  the 
company,  resident  in  Chicago,  having  succeeded  Mr.  Benjamin 

9 


130  LAW   DEPARTMENT   OF   THE   COMPANY. 

F.  Ayer,  who  held  that  position  for  many  years  and  is  now  the 
general -counsel  of  the  company.  The  law  department  of  the 
company  has  always  been  maintained  at  a  high  standard,  and 
among  its  legal  advisers,  in  past  years,  may  be  found  the  names 
of  James  F.  Joy,  Hiram  Ketchum,  William  Tracy,  Wm.  Curtis 
Noyes,  Daniel  Lord,  Charles  O'Connor,  Judge  Ebenezer  Lane,* 
Judge  James  Emmott,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  the  present  chief- 
justice  of  the  United  States;  W.  C.  Goudy,  Senator  William  B. 
Allison,  Lyman  Trumbull,  and  John  N.  Jewett. 

The  acquisition  of  the  lines  between  Cairo  and  New  Orleans, 
viz;  the  New-Orleans, -Jackson-and-Great-Northern  Railroad — 
from  New  Orleans  to  Canton,  206  miles — and  the  Mississippi- 
Central  Railway — Canton,  Mississippi,  to  Jackson,  Tennessee, 
236  miles — with  the  newly -constructed,  connecting  line,  north 
from  Jackson,  Tennessee,  to  East  Cairo,  Illinois,  of  108  miles, 
added  550  miles  to  the  southern  extension.  This  has  been 
further  increased  by  the  construction  of  the  Canton, -Aberdeen - 
and  -  Nashville  Road  —  Aberdeen  to  Durant,  Mississippi,  108 
miles;  the  Yazoo  -  and  -  Mississippi  -  Valley  Railroad,  115  miles; 
and  by  the  purchase  of  the  Memphis -and- Grenada  Railroad  — 
Grenada,  Mississippi,  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  100  miles;  making 
a  total  mileage  south  of  Cairo  of  873  miles. 

The  distance  from  Sioux  City  to  New  Orleans  is  1220  miles. 
No  road  in  the  country,  I  believe,  is  called  upon  to  transport  so 
great  a  diversity  of  products.  The  writer  calls  to  mind  that  in  the 

*  Ebenezer  Lane,  jurist,  was  born  in  North  Hampton,  Massachusetts,  Dec. 
17,  1793,  and  died  in  Sandusky,  Ohio;  June  13,  1866.  He  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  181 1,  studied  law  under  the  guidance  of  his  uncle,  Matthew 
Griswold  of  Lyme,  Connecticut,  in  18 14,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  After 
practising  for  three  years  in  Connecticut,  he  removed  to  Ohio  and  settled  in 
Norwalk,  Huron  County.  He  became  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas 
in  1824,  and  from  1837  until  1845  was  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio. 
After  his  retirement  from  the  bench,  he  resumed  his  profession  and  was  after- 
ward engaged  in  various  relations  with  western  railroads.  Dec.  6,  1855,  he 
was  elected  resident-director  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  and 
was  their  legal  adviser  for  three  years.  He  withdrew  from  active  employ- 
ment in  1859.  His  ability  and  experience  rendered  his  advice  wise  and  trust- 
worthy. Like  Rufus  Choate,  Horace  Greeley,  and  some  other  great  men,  he 
never  learned  to  write  legibly. 


JOHN    M.   DOUGLAS.  131 

early  spring  of  1876,  during  the  time  the  company  was  expend- 
ing over  $100,000  in  removing  snow  and  ice  from  its  tracks  in 
northern  Illinois  and  in  Iowa,  its  trains  from  the  south  were 
bringing  strawberries  and  early  vegetables  to  Chicago.  And  in 
the  spring  of  1881,  when  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow  in 
Chicago,  a  consignment  of  twenty-seven  car  loads  of  watermelons 
was  received  from  Texas. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

This  brings  us  down  to  a  period  when  the  writer's  long  con- 
nection with  this  magnificent  system  of  railway  ceased.  There 
are  many  with  whom  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  labor  and  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  the  most  pleasant  relations,  official  and 
personal,  to  whom  he  would  most  gladly  do  justice  in  this  narra- 
tive did  space  permit.  A  few  of  these,  however,  I  should  in 
closing  at  least  refer  to. 

First,  I  will  mention  Mr.  John  M.  Douglas.  Mr.  Douglas  was 
born  at  Plattsburg,  Clinton  County,  New  York,  August  22,  181 9. 
His  maternal  grandfather,  Elijah  Weaver,  was  a  second  lieutenant 
in  the  revolutionary  war,  and  his  father,  Congdon  Douglas,  served 
in  the  war  of  181 2  and  fought  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen,  John  M.  Douglas  entered  the  law-office  of 
Sweatland  and  Beckwith,  at  Plattsburg,  and  read  law  for  three 
years.  He  then  came  west  and  settled  in  Galena,  Illinois.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1841  and  opened  a  law -office  in  that 
city.  In  1856,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and,  in  1857,  was  appointed 
one  of  the  solicitors  of  the  Illinois-Central  Road,  David  Stuart 
being  the  other.  It  never  had  a  more  faithful  servant  than  he.. 
Cautious  and  conservative  in  temperament,  many  were  the 
breakers  avoided  by  his  wise  counsel.  Litigation  pregnant  with 
danger,  he  made  it  a  rule  to  settle ;  but,  where  he  believed  the 
law  and  the  evidence  to  be  on  his  client's  side,  or  where  he 
believed  there  was  a  principle  worth  contending  for,  he  would 
contest,  generally  with  success,  a  case  to  the  end.  Knotty  prob- 
lems, such  as  frequently  encompass  the  operations  of  a  railway,, 
he  studied  out  with  untiring  zeal. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  a  director  of  the  company  from  May  2% 


132  LEWIS   V.   F.    RANDOLPH. 

1861,  to  May  22,  1872,  and  from  January  15,  1875,  to  July  17, 
1876.  On  July  11,  1865,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  com- 
pany and  served  until  March  14,  1871.  He  continued  in  the 
service  as  general -solicitor  and,  on  January  28,  1875,  was  again 
elected  president,  serving  until  July  17,  1876,  when  he  retired 
permanently  from  the  service,.  His  presidential  terms  covered 
important  periods  in  the  history  of  the  road,  and,  in  the  course 
of  his  management,  he  encountered  many  difficult  problems,  in 
dealing  with  which  he  displayed  sterling  qualities  of  mind,  and 
in  the  solution  of  which  he  was  eminently  successful. 

Diffident  and  retiring  in  his  disposition,  he  was  often  mis- 
understood. The  labors  of  the  best  part  of  his  life  were  with 
singular  devotion  given  to  the  interests  of  this  company  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  know  that  they  were  appreciated. 

Mr.  Lewis  V.  F.  Randolph  was  born  in  Somerville,  New 
Jersey,  May  16,  1838.  He  came  of  a  family  which  had  then 
dwelt  in  New  Jersey  200  years  and  was  descended  from  an 
English  gentleman,  Edward  Fitz  Randolph,  who  had  espoused 
the  Puritan  faith  and  whose  wife,  Elizabeth  Blossom,  was  also 
one  of  the  earliest  arrivals  of  the  Pilgrim  stock.  His  mother 
was  of  an  old  Dutch  family  whose  ancestors  had  come  to  Long 
Island  and  afterward  to  New  Jersey,  long  prior  to  the  American 
revolution.  Lewis  studied  hard  at  Plainfield,  a  pleasant  town 
near  Somerville,  and  made  good  progress  in  mathematics  and  the 
languages.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but  ten  years  old  and 
he,  being  an  only  son  with  several  sisters,  left  school  while  still  a 
boy,  turning  from  the  alluring  offer  of  a  university  education 
made  by  kind  friends,  to  throw  his  youthful  energies  into  business 
activity.  At  first,  he  was  cashier  and  salesman  for  a  mercantile 
firm,  and  afterward  spent  nearly  ten  years — 1854  to  1863  inclu- 
sive— in  the  American  Exchange  Bank,  New  York,  rising  through 
various  clerical  positions  from  year  to  year.  About  the  latter  end 
of  this  period  of  service,  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Union 
army  and  served  in  it  until  after  the  confederates  were  driven 
back  from  their  sally  into  Pennsylvania.  In  1864,  he  entered 
the  president's  office  of  the  Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company 
as  private  secretary,  and  was  soon  afterward  sent  to  the  com- 


LYNDE   A.   CATLIN.  1 33 

pany's  money-department  at  Chicago.  Later  on,  he  was  recalled 
to  the  financial  office  in  New  York  and  elected  assistant-treasurer. 
In  1873,  he  was  chosen  a  director  by  the  stockholders  and,  in 
1874,  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  the  company. 

Besides  discharging,  the  duties  of  the  positions  above  named, 
Mr.  Randolph  has  filled  other  places  of  public  trust,  including 
that  of  mayor  of  Plainfield,  New  Jersey;  he  is  also  known  as  a 
public  speaker  and  writer. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  as  an  office-manager  a  careful  disciplinarian. 
Being  thoroughly  versed  in  analysis  and  an  accurate  and  efficient 
accountant,  these  qualifications  rendered  his  services  to  the  com- 
pany, at  all  times,  most  valuable  but  especially  at  certain  impor- 
tant periods  in  its  financial  affairs.  He  was  ever  punctiliously 
correct  in  all  transactions  involving  financial  operations,  and  in 
these  his  banking  education  and  experience  served  him  well. 
He  was  conscientious  in  his  devotion  to  duty;  and  no  officer  of 
the  company  ever  enjoyed  more  fully  or  continuously  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  the  board  of  directors.  In  1884,  he  de- 
clined a  reelection  as  director,  and,  in  1885,  resigned  the 
treasurership  of  the  company.  He  is  still  a  trustee  of  several 
mortgages  on  the  company's  lines.  After  spending  a  short  time 
in  a  successful  quest  for  health  among  the  higher  altitudes  of  the 
Rocky- Mountain  Country,  he  returned,  in  1887,  to  New  York 
and  accepted  an  offer,  from  .the  executors  of  Hon.  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  to  assist  them  in  the  care  of  the  large  estate  committed 
to  their  management. 

Lynde  A.  Catlin  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Oct.  31, 
1833,  and  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1853.  He  entered 
the  service  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company,  May  10, 
1854.  In  1863,  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  company.  In 
1874,  he  visited  England  on  the  company's  business  and  again 
in  1875.  For  over  30  years,  Mr.  Catlin  was  in  charge  of  the 
stock-books  of  the  company  and  the  records  of  the  board,  and 
was  the  custodian  of  all  its  valuable  papers  and  documents. 
During  all  that  time,  he  enjoyed  the  fullest  confidence  and  re- 
spect of  the  board  of  directors  and  of  every  officer  of  the  com- 
pany.    He  was  modest  almost  to  a  fault,  but  was  and  is  much 


134  JAMES   C.   CLARKE. 

beloved  for  his  natural  amiability  and  generosity  and  for  his 
exemplary  christian  character.  On  his  retirement  from  the  ser- 
vice in  1 884,  the  board  passed  resolutions  of  respect  and  good 
wishes  as  they  did  in  a  few  other  exceptional  cases.  He  is  still 
a  trustee  of  one  of  the  largest  mortgages  on  the  company's  lines. 
Mr.  Catlin  now  lives  a  retired  life  at  Putnam,  Connecticut,  where 
he  has  abundant  opportunity  to  enjoy  nature  and  good  books, 
and  profit  in  a  leisurely  way  by  his  own  culture  and  literary  tastes, 
and  enjoy  the  society  of  devoted  friends.  A  fellow-officer,  who 
served  constantly  with  Mr.  Catlin  for  over  twenty  years,  remarked 
recently,  "I  never  knew  him  to  speak  a  cross  word  or  do  an 
unworthy  act.*' 

Mr.  James  C.  Clarke  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Mary- 
land, in  1826.  Like  several  other  Illinois  -  Central  workers  — 
among  whom  may  be  mentioned  John  H.  Done,  Samuel  J.  Hayes, 
John  C.  Jacobs,  and  Charles  C.  Berry- — he  commenced  his  rail- 
way-life on  the  Baltimore-and-Ohio  Railroad;  he  entered  its  ser- 
vice in  1844,  and  was  first  engaged  in  the  road  department  and 
then  entered  the  machinery  department  as  a  fireman;  after  the 
usual  term  of  service  as  such,  he  was  appointed  a  locomotive- 
engineer.  During  this  term  of  service,  he  ran  the  old  engine 
"Arabian,"  which  was  on  exhibition  in  Chicago  in  1883  and 
which  is  now  used  as  a  switch-engine  in  the  yard  of  Mt.  Clare 
shops,  Baltimore.  In  1855  —  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  John  H. 
Done,  who  had  been  master  of  transportation  on  the  Baltimore- 
and-Ohio  Railroad  and  was  called  to  a  similar  position  on  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad — Mr.  Clarke  accepted  the  position  of 
division -superintendent  of  the  main  line  with  headquarters  at 
Amboy,  Illinois. 

Matters  were  then  in  a  demoralized  condition  on  that  division 
and  insubordination  existed  among  the  men.  Mr.  Clarke,  com- 
ing among  them  a  stranger,  did  not  meet  with  a  very  hospitable 
reception.  He  tells  an  amusing  story  of  conversations  had  in 
his  hearing,  between  some  of  the  men,  around  the  big  stove  in 
the  depot- hotel  on  the  night  of  his  arrival,  about  "that  fellow 
Clarke"  who,  they  had  heard,  was  coming  over  to  Amboy  to 
straighten  things  out.    As  he  had  not  registered  his  correct  name 


LINCOLN'S  TRIP  TO   WASHINGTON.  1 35 

on  the  hotel-book,  he  enjoyed  not  only  the  conversation  with  its 
boasts  and  threats,  but,  by  joining  in  it,  he  was  enabled  to  obtain 
some  valuable  points  for  the  government  of  his  future  course. 
It  did  not  take  them  long  to  find  out  who  "that  fellow  Clarke" 
was,  for,  on  the  suceeding  day,  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  revolt, 
every  man  in  the  shops  was  discharged  and  the  shops  were  closed 
to  await  the  arrival  of  fresh  men. 

One  year  afterward,  he  was  appointed  general-superintendent, 
and,  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Done — which  sad  event  occurred 
through  an  accident  at  Hyde  Park — he  was  elected  to  succeed 
the  latter  as  master  of  transportation.  He  remained  in  the  ser- 
vice at  that  time  for  about  three  years  — 1856-1859,  and  then 
resigned  to  accept  a  position  as  general -superintendent  on  the 
Northern -Central  Railroad,  where  he  remained  three  years — 
1859 — 1862. 

While  in  charge  of  the  road  in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  the 
task  of  conducting  President  Lincoln  in  safety  from  Harrisburg 
to  Washington,  prior  to  his  first  inauguration,  devolved  upon  him. 
A  few  years  before,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  one  of  the  attorneys 
of  the  Illinois-Central  Company.  This  was  during  Mr.  Clarke's 
early  connection  with  the  road;  and,  upon  this  memorable  trip, 
their  former  pleasant  acquaintance  was  renewed.  Shortly  after- 
ward, Mr.  Clarke  retired  to  his  farm  near  Frederick,  Maryland, 
where  he  was  alternately  visited  by  portions  of  the  federal  and 
confederate  armies,  and  was  occasionally  asked  to  drink  to  the 
success  of  each  side,  a  condition  of  things  that  rendered  farming 
in  that  locality  a  somewhat  dubious  occupation. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  he  engaged  in  the  iron  business  at 
the  Ashland  furnaces  in  Missouri  — 1862 -1870.  He  was  then 
elected  president  of  the  Chesapeake -and -Ohio  Canal  Company, 
and,  for  the  first  time  in  16  years,  he  made  this  canal  self-sustain- 
ing and  paid  off  in  two  years  more  than  $600,000  of  its  prefer- 
ence debts  from  its  net  earnings.  He  remained  in  charge  of  this 
property  for  two  years — 1870  to  1872.  Mr.  Clarke  was  then 
elected  vice-president  and  general -manager  of  the  Erie  Railway 
Company,  while  that  road  was  still  suffering  from  the  evil  effects 
of  the  Fisk  management.     Here  he  proved  himself  faithful  among 


136  CLARKE'S   RECORD   CONTINUED. 

the  faithless;  his  savings  at  the  spigots  were  numerous  and  effec- 
tive but  were  sadly  offset  by  waste  at  the  bungs. 

Mr.  Clarke  was  familiar  with  the  use  and  purposes  of  the 
locomotive -engine  and  all  legitimate  railroad  machinery,  but  the 
operations  of  a  small  printing-press  quite  baffled  him.  One  day, 
there  was  submitted  to  him  a  mysterious  voucher  for  $50,000  for 
his  approval.  All  the  explanation  vouchsafed  for  the  proposed 
payment  was  that  it  was  "for  legal  services;"  Mr.  Clarke  shortly 
after  signed  his  name,  not  to  the  aforesaid  voucher,  but  to  a  letter 
of  resignation,  after  a  service  of  two  years — 1872  to  1874. 

In  1874,  he  returned  to  the  Illinois-Central  service  as  general- 
manager — 1874  to  1877 — and  took  a  very  active  part  in  the 
reorganization  and  reconstruction  of  the  roads  which  had  been 
acquired  south  of  Cairo  and  which  have  been  hereinbefore  re- 
ferred to  in  detail.  He  became  vice-president  and  general- 
manager — 1877  to  J883 — and  president — 1883  to  1888 — of  these 
dependent  lines  successively.  He  was  also  vice-president  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company,  and  in  August,  1883,  became 
president,  succeeding  the  writer  who  had  resigned  in  his  favor. 
This  position  he  held  until  May  18,  1887.  He  resigned  as 
director,  Dec.  21,  1887. 

Mr.  Clarke's  record  as  a  railroad  manager  would  fill  a  respec- 
table-sized volume  of  itself.  I  have  given  but  the  briefest  out- 
line of  it;  he  has  had  an  unusually  extensive  experience.  He  is 
a  man  of  indomitable  energy,  unswerving  integrity,  and  is  pos- 
sessed of  great  versatility.  His  powsr  of  adaptation  to  adverse 
circumstances  and  conditions  is  something  remarkable.  He  has 
a  wonderful  capacity  for  dealing  with  men,  and  his  tact  and  dis- 
cretion in  this  particular  have  saved  many  thousands  of  dollars 
to  the  companies  he  has  served. 

It  has  been  said  that  on  the  occasion  of  a  strike  on  one  of  his 
roads,  a  "grievance  committee"  of  locomotive-engineers,  who 
visited  him,  were  put  into  such  good  humor  that  they  forgot  what 
they  came  for.  Having  been  a  Knight  of  the  Footboard  him- 
self, he  knew  how  to  sympathize  with  this  class,  and  he  could 
enter  into  their  feelings  and  ijrant  all  reasonable  requests;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  he  could,  in  his  clever  way,  point  a  lesson  when 
he  believed  they  were  wrong. 


EDWARD   TURNER  JEFFERY.  137 

The  duties  of  the  various  positions  held  by  Mr.  Clarke  have 
always  been  fulfilled  with  great  faithfulness  and  with  a  sincere 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  company  served.  His  cardinal 
qualities  are  tenacity  and  honesty  of  purpose  united  to  a  thor- 
oughly self-sacrificing  spirit.  A  more  economical  manager  prob- 
ably never  administered  the  aftairs  of  a  railway.  He  can  utilize 
every  scrap,  purchasing  only  what  is  absolutely  necessary,  and 
can  economize  labor  n  distributing  or  in  manufacturing,  and  so 
keep  down  expenses.  His  orders  to  his  subordinates  are  always 
given  with  great  explicitness  and  enforced  with  a  stern  discipline. 

Mr.  Clarke  is  now  president  and  general  -  manager  of  the 
Mobile- and- Ohio  Railroad  Company,  and,  in  this  position,  he  is 
again  giving  practical  evidence  of  the  qualifications  I  have 
attributed  to  him,  by  improving  the  physical  condition  of  that 
property  and  raising  the  standard  of  discipline  among  its  em- 
ploye's— and  it  is  confidently  predicted  that  he  will  land  that 
property  on  a  firm  basis  of  material  and  financial  prosperity. 

Edward  Turner  Jeffery  was  born  in  Liverpool,  England,  April 
6,  1843.  His  father,  who  was  an  engineer  in  the  British  navy, 
died  when  Edward  was  five  years  old.  Very  soon  afterward,  the 
mother  with  her  orphan  charge  came  to  this  country  and  settled 
in  Wheeling,  West  "Virginia,  where  the  boy  received  his  only 
school  education  —  until  his  twelfth  year.  The  family  then  re- 
moved to  Chicago,  and,  in  October,  1856,  young  Jeffery  procured 
employment  as  an  office -bo'y  with  Samuel  J.  Hayes,  superinten- 
dent of  machinery  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad.  He  was 
afterward  placed  for  awhile  in  the  tin-  and  copper-shops,  and  then 
served  as  an  apprentice  in  the  machine-shop,  cultivating  what 
might  be  regarded  as  an  hereditary  fondness  for  the  craft  of  the 
machinist.  He  then  entered  the  department  of  mechanical 
drawing,  and,  after  he  had  mastered  this  science,  he  was — at  the 
age  of  twenty — put  in  charge  of  this  department,  and  was  also 
made  secretary  to  the  superintendent  of  machinery,  and  had 
charge  of  all  new  work  done  in  the  shops  and  foundry.  From 
Feb.  1,  1871,  to  May  4,  1877,  he  was  assistant-superintendent  of 
machinery,  and  on  that  date  he  was  appointed  general -superin- 
tendent of  the  road  serving  as  such  until  Dec.  15,  1885,  when  he 


138  EDWARD   TURNER   JEFFERY. 

was  appointed  general-manager  of  the  entire  line — a  rare  promo- 
tion for  one  of  his  age,  the  more  so  when  we  consider  his  humble 
beginnings.     He  resigned  as  general-manager  in  1889. 

His  own  advancement,  step  by  step,  was  fairly  won  without 
favoritism  or  solicitation,  but  solely  on  the  ground  of  merit  and 
fitness.  His  experience  not  only  added  to  his  capacity  as  a  rail- 
road manager,  but  it  likewise  broadened  his  mind  and  enlarged 
his  heart  and  sympathies  for  every  honest  wage-worker,  especially 
for  the  young  apprentice  in  the  shops.  His  official  career,  in  the 
Illinois  -  Central  Railroad  Company,  was  singularly  successful 
throughout.  His  particular  strength  lay  in  his  thorough  adaptation 
to  the  company's  service  and  to  every  branch  of  it  in  which  he 
served,  as  well  as  in  his  great  industry  and  energy. 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  during  the  seven  important  years  of 
my  connection  with  the  company,  as  its  executive,  to  have  so 
able  a  man  with  me,  and  one  so  loyal  alike  to  me  and  to  the 
company  as  was  Edward  T.  Jeffery.  He  was  skilful,  energetic, 
systematic,  and  economical;  and,  in  all  he  undertook,  he  worked 
with  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  duty  in  hand.  A  har- 
monious feeling  was  maintained  among  the  employe's,  and  their 
devotion  to  him  was  something  rarely  witnessed  in  corporate 
operations. 

The  seven  years,  heretofore  referred  to,  were  the  most  pros- 
perous ones  in  the  history  of  the  company.  Many  important 
additions  and  improvements  were  made  to  the  property  during 
this  time,  and,  as  the  engineering  department  had  been  abolished 
— Mr.  Leverett  H.  Clarke,  chief-engineer,  having  resigned  after  a 
faithful  service  of  twenty-five  years — and  the  construction  account 
had  been  closed,  the  planning  and  superintending  of  these  new 
works  devolved  largely  upon  the  general -superintendent.  The 
gross  earnings  were  increased,  the  operation  expenses  were  kept 
at  a  very  low  percentage,  while  at  the  same  time,  the  physical 
•condition  of  the  property  was  fully  maintained  and  large  addi- 
tions were  made  to  its  rolling-stock. 

By  way  of  illustration,  I  give  a  synopsis  of  the  operations  of 
the  line  during  the  period  referred  to,  187 7-1 883,  both  inclusive, 
taken  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  company  for  these  years : 


JOSEPH   F.   TUCKER.  1 39 

GROSS  OPERATION  NET  PER  C*T  OP         DIVIDENDS        BETTER- 

EARNINGS  EXPENSES  EARNINGS      OPER.    EXPS.  PAID  MKNTS* 

1877  $6,639,845.40  $4,093,284.01  $2,546,561.39  46.72  $I,l6o.OOO  $73,603.70 

1878  7,111,184.28  4.095,955.09  3,015,229.19  43.24  1,740,000  194,803.64 

1879  7,234,464.06  4,037,543.21  3,196,920.85  41.75  1,740,000  386,016.15 

1880  8,304,811.81  4,825,799  20  3,479,012.61  44.I3  1,740,000  842,323.56 

1881  8,586,397.44  5-359. 2I5- 7°  3  227,181.74         48.42  2,030,000        925,380.36 

1882  8,oor,3i2.i8  5,244,543.03  3,660,769.15         4491  2,030000     1,271,45163 

1883  1 3,064. 743.391         7,800,586.48  5,264,156.91         49.25  2,903,000        632,529.66 

*  Paid  from  income.  i    Southern  division  earnings  included. 

These  good  results  should  be  attributed  largely  to  careful 
attention  given  to  details,  to  maintenance  of  esprit  dc  corps  in  the 
force,  and  to  a  reasonable  perception  of  the  real  mutual  obliga- 
tions of  employer  and  employed. 

Joseph  F.  Tucker  was  born  in  Saco,  Maine,  September  29, 
1835.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  company  September  15, 
1856,  and  remained  until  1884.  Five  of  these  twenty-eight  years 
were  spent  as  ticket-agent,  ten  as  general  freight -agent,  two  as 
general-superintendent,  and  nearly  nine  as  traffic-manager. 

From  the  foregoing,  it  will  be  seen  that  his  education  in  the 
traffic  department  was  thorough,  and  the  lessons  he  gained  there 
taught  him  that  earnings  for  his  road  meant  more  than  gathering 
a  large  volume  of  profitless  business  for  self-glorification.  The 
"rate  per  ton  per  mile"  was  his  ever  present  thought — and  he 
aimed  to  secure  such  a  rate  as  would  produce  a  reasonable  net 
result  of  profit.  In  this  matter,  he  was  a  wholesome  example  to 
many  in  similar  positions  and  they  might  have  studied  with 
advantage  his  conservative  course.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  had 
certain  of  the  freight-agents  in  former  years  adopted  such  honor- 
able and  conservative  principles  in  the  prosecution  of  their  busi- 
ness, it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  railway  interests  of  this 
country  would  have  suffered  less  than  it  has  at  the  hands  of  legis- 
latures. Many  a  time  at  meetings  and  in  conventions,  did  Mr. 
Tucker  warn  these  railroad  managers  and  freight -agents  as  to 
what  would  be  the  result  of  their  doubtful  dealings.  His  words 
were  not  always  heeded,  and  when  the  storm  came  it  swept  into 
bankruptcy  the  properties  managed  by  the  reckless  or  ignorant 
men  who  had  withstood  him. 

There  is  another  thing  about  "Joe"  Tucker  that  is  pleasant  to 


HO  JOHN   C.   WELLING. 

record  and  that  is  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  always  held  by  the 
shippers  over  his  line  as  well  as  by  the  craft  of  traffic -managers. 
It  was  always  said  of  him  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond, 
and  so  it  was.  The  shippers  used  to  say  that  if  he  declined  to 
make  concessions,  he  could  always  give  a  good  reason  for  the 
ground  he  took  and  that  the  refusal  was  always  made  in  such  a 
kind  spirit  that,  although  they  might  feel  disappointed,  they  could 
not  go  away  offended.  And  in  his  relations  to  other  lines,  it 
required  no  cast-iron  compact  of  any  association  of  traffic-mana- 
gers to  bind  him  to  an  agreement  as  to  maintenance  of  rates.  It 
was  this  spirit  of  fairness  and  integrity  that  made  and  kept  him 
host  of  friends  both  among  freight-men  and  shippers. 

His  management  of  the  traffic  business  of  the  Illinois -Central 
Railroad  Company  extended  through  some  very  troublous  times, 
particularly  during  the  period  when  railroad  commissioners  were 
sometimes  appointed  not  so  much  for  their  fitness  as  for  political 
reward.  When  these  men  got  on  the  wrong  track  and  attempted 
to  make  unreasonable  reductions,  it  was  difficult  to  reason  them 
out  of  it,  for  they  were  dealing  with  a  subject  concerning 
which  they  were  profoundly  ignorant,  and  were  governed  more 
by  prejudice,  and  passion,  than  by  sound  sense  and  sober 
judgment.  But  Mr.  Tucker's  arguments,  before  the  board  of 
railroad  -  and  -  warehouse  commissioners,  evincing  as  they  did  a 
thorough  mastery  of  the  subject  and  delivered  with  such  fair- 
mindedness  and  honest  precision,  were  usually  listened  to  with 
respectful  attention  and  often  carried  conviction  to  his  hearers; 
and,  in  one  instance  at  least — aided  by  some  suggestions  from  his 
brother  officers — he  prevailed  upon  the  members  of  the  board 
actually  to  recall  a  schedule  of  tariff  rates  which  they  had  ordered 
to  take  effect  within  a  few  days.  He  proved  clearly  to  the  minds 
of  the  commissioners  that  the  practical  effect  of  an  enforcement 
of  the  schedule  would  be  a  confiscation  of  railway -property  and 
that  it  would  also  operate  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  public. 

John  C.  Welling  was  born  near  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  on  Feb. 
24,  1840,  and  received  his  education  in  that  city.  In  1858,  he 
went  into  business  at  Titusville,  New  Jersey,  remained  there  until 
1 86 1,  when  he  was  appointed  clerk  to  John  W.  Newell,  paymas- 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN   AVER.  141 

ter  of  the  United-States  army.  He  was  in  the  government  ser- 
vice until  August,  1866,  and  then  entered  the  service  of  the  Iron- 
ton  Railroad  and  Mining  Company,  whose  mines  were  located 
near  Allentown,  Pennsylvania,  and  owned  by  Robert  Lennox 
Kennedy  of  New  York.  He  afterward  served  as  Mr.  Kennedy's 
private  secretary  until  1874,  when  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company  in  the  financial  department  in 
New  York.  Sept.  1,  1874,  he  removed  to  Chicago  to  take  the 
position  of  assistant-treasurer.  Two  years  later,  he  was  appointed 
auditor.  His  title  was  afterward  changed  to  general -auditor  and 
then  to  comptroller,  a  title  more  nearly  corresponding  to  the 
duties  performed,  his  office  being  charged  with  the  supervision  of 
all  the  accounts  of  the  company.  It  is  a  position  of  far  greater 
responsibility  and  having  a  more  important  bearing  upon  the 
successful  administration  of  the  affairs  of  a  railway  than  is  gener- 
ally supposed.  Mr.  Welling's  department  has  been  conducted 
with  marked  ability  and  has  served  as  a  model  for  many  of  the 
railway  accounting  offices  of  the  country.  The  system  of  accounts 
adopted  has  proved  a  wholesome  check  upon  errors  and  irregu- 
larities of  every  kind. 

Personally,  Mr.  Welling  is  held  in  very  high  estimation  by  the 
board  of  directors,  by  every  brother  officer,  and  by  all  the 
employe's  of  the  road,  especially  by  the  young  men  serving 
immediately  under  him,  who  find  in  him  not  only  an  example  of 
good  life  but  a  kind  and  helpful  counsellor. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Ayer  was  born  in  Kingston,  Rockingham 
County,  New  Hampshire,  April  22,  1825.  His  family  is  one  of 
the  oldest  in  New  England,  he  was  descended  in  the  eighth 
generation  from  John  Ayer,  who  had  settled  in  Haverhill,  Mass., 
in  1645.  After  preparing  himself  at  the  Albany,  New  York, 
Academy,  Mr.  Ayer  entered  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  the  year  1846.  He  afterward  attended  the  Dana 
Law-School  of  Harvard  College  to  perfect  himself  for  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law.  In  July,  1849,  ne  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
and  practised  in  Manchester,  New  Hamphire  —  being  endowed 
with  natural  abilities  for  the  profession,  he  soon  made  a  high 
reputation.     He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1853.     In  1854, 


142  STUYVESANT   FISH. 

he  was  appointed  prosecuting -attorney  for  Hillsborough  County,. 
New  Hampshire,  and  held  that  office  until  his  removal  to  Chi- 
cago in  1857.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Illinois  on  May 
15  of  the  same  year,  and  he  as  rapidly  rose  in  the  regard  of  our 
people  and  of  the  profession  as  he  had  in  his  Eastern  home.  In 
1 86 1,  he  was  appointed  corporation-counsel  and  served  as  such 
five  years,  during  which  time,  he  prepared  the  revised  charter  of 
Chicago  in  1863.  He  was  afterward  of  the  law-firm  of  Beckwith, 
Ayer  and  Kales.  When  Judge  Corydon  Beckwith  withdrew  to 
accept  the  general -solicitorship  of  the  Chicago-and-Alton  Rail- 
road Company,  the  firm  was  continued  by  Ayer  and  Kales.     In 

1876,  he  was  tendered  the  position  of  general  -  solicitor  of  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company.  Prior  to  this,  he  had  devoted 
his  attention  to  corporation  and  railroad  law  and  had  distin- 
guished himself  in  this  class  of  legal  practice.  He  accepted  the 
offer  of  the  Illinois- Central  Railroad,  gave  up  all  other  practice, 
and  has  since  devoted  himself  to  the  legal  department  of  this 
company.     He  was  elected  a  director  of  the  company,  April  25, 

1877,  which  position  he  still  holds.  In  1890,  his  title  was  changed 
to  that  of  general -consul.  Mr.  Ayer  was  for  several  years  presi- 
dent of  the  Western  Railroad  Association,  which  was  organized 
many  years  since  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of  patents  affecting 
railways  and  which  includes  in  its  membership  all  the  leading 
railways  of  the  West. 

Stuyvesant  Fish  was  born  in  New- York  City,  June  24,  185 1; 
educated  at  Columbia  College.  Entered  the  service  of  the 
Illinois- Central  Railroad  Company,  October  1,  1871,  as  a  clerk  in 
the  financial  office  in  New  York  until  June  20,  1872,  when  he  was 
appointed  secretary  to  President  Newell  in  Chicago,  serving  until 
Oct.  30,  1872.  Nov.  1,  1872,  he  left  the  service  of  the  company 
to  accept  a  position  with  the  banking  house  of  Morton,  Bliss 
and  Company,  New  York,  and  afterward  with  their  London  house, 
Morton,  Rose  and  Company,  remaining  there  until  Dec.  31, 
1874,  when  he  returned  to  New  York  to  become  the  managing 
clerk  of  the  house,  holding  their  power  of  attorney,  and  remained 
with  them  until  March  15,  1877.  From  December  14,  1876  to 
March  6,    1879,   he  was  a  member  of   the   New -York   stock- 


.DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   SYSTEM.  143 

exchange.  March  16,  1877,  ne  was  elected  a  director  of  the 
Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company,  and  was  appointed  treasurer 
and  agent  for  purchasing  committee  of  the  New-Orleans, -Jackson 
-  and  -  Great  -  Northern  Railroad.  November  8,  1877,  he  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  Chicago, -St.  Louis -and -New -Orleans 
Railroad  Company  and  in  March,  1882,  vice-president. 

From  January  7,  1883  to  April  2,  1884,  he  was  second  vice- 
president,  from  April  2,  1884  to  May  14,  1887,  vice-president, 
and  since  May  18,  1887,  president  of  the  Illinois-Central  Rail- 
road Company,  succeeding  Mr.  James  C.  Clarke. 

Edward  H.  Harriman  was  elected  vice-president,  September 
28,  1887. 

The  years  1884  to  1890  inclusive  were  years  of  great  activity 
in  the  development  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  system.  The 
conservatism,  which  had  marked  the  early  operations  of  the  com- 
pany, gave  place  to  very  active  progress.  Large  expenditures 
were  made  on  capital  account  in  the  completion  of  lines  already 
in  progress,  and  in  the  construction  and  acquisition  of  new  lines, 
as  well  as  for  additional  equipment  and  for  other  property.  The 
mileage  of  the  system  was  increased  during  this  period  nearly 
1000  miles. 

Among  the  more  important  works  carried  out  were  the  follow- 
ing ones: 

In  Illinois,  the  South-Chicago  Railroad  was  completed,  afford- 
ing a  double-track  connection  with  this  important  manufacturing 
town — 4.76  miles. 

The  middle  division  was  extended  to  a  junction  with  the  main 
line  near  Bloomington — making  the  length  of  the  division  131.26 
miles. 

In  Chicago,  the  two  large  grain -elevators  were  purchased  at  an 
appraised  value. 

The  Chicago,  -  Madison  -  and  -  Northern  Railroad,  which  was 
undertaken  in  1886,  was  completed  to  a  point  near  the  city 
limits  of  Chicago,  and  trains  were  run  from  there  to  Freeport, 
Madison,  and  Dodgeville,  in  August,  1888.  The  entrance 
through  the  city  limits  of  Chicago  is  now  being  completed. 


144  ACQUISITIONS   OF   BRANCH   LINES. 

The  Chicago,-Havana-and-Western  Railroad — 130  miles  in 
length — was  acquired  in  1887,  under  foreclosure  proceedings,  as 
was  also  the  Rantoul  Narrow-Gauge  Railroad — 76  miles,  extend- 
ing from  West  Lebanon,  Indiana,  to  Leroy,  Illinois,  the  gauge  of 
the  latter  being  afterward  changed. 

The  13  miles  of  track  constructed,  in  1885,  by  the  Chicago,- 
Burlington -and -Northern  Railroad  Company,  on  the  company's 
right  of  way  between  East  Dubuque  and  Portage  Curve  under 
condemnation  proceedings,  was  purchased  in  1888,  and  an  arrange- 
ment made  permitting  the  Chicago, -Burlington-and-Northern  Rail- 
road to  use  it  at  a  fixed  rental.  The  supreme  court  of  Illinois 
having  decided  adversely  to  the  condemnation  proceedings. 

Control  of  the  Dunleith- and -Dubuque  bridge  was  secured  in 
1888  by  the  purchase  of  all  the  stock  of  that  company,  and  the 
Chicago, -St.  Paul -and -Kansas-City  Railroad  and  the  Chicago, - 
Burlington-and-Northern  Railroad  became  participants  in  its  use 
as  joint- tenants.     Large  additions  were  made  to  the  equipment. 

In  Iowa,  the  Cherokee-and-Dakota  Railroad — extending  from 
Cherokee,  Iowa,  northwesterly  to  Sioux  Falls,  Dakota,  and  from 
Cherokee  southwesterly  to  Onawa,   153  miles — was  constructed. 

Also,  the  Cedar-Rapids-and-Chicago  Railroad — extending  from 
Manchester  to  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

The  control  of  the  Dubuque -and -Sioux-City  (143  miles)  and 
the *Iowa -Falls -and -Sioux -City  (183  miles)  roads  was  obtained 
through  the  purchase  of  the  securities  of  those  companies. 

In  the  south,  the  Canton,-Aberdeen-and-Nashville  Railroad,  on 
which  work  had  been  commenced  in  1883,  was  also  completed. 

A  large  amount  was  expended  on  the  Yazoo-and- Mississippi - 
Valley  Railroad  and  it  was  completed  in  December,  1886. 

Control  of  the  line  running  from  Grenada,  Mississippi,  to 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  100  miles  in  length,  was  secured  and  in- 
vestments were  made  in  the  bonds  and  stock  of  that  company 
to  a  large  extent. 

The  bridge  across  the  Ohio  River  at  Cairo  was  built  to  obviate 
the  delays  incident  to  the  ferry  transfer. 

The  amount  expended  in  the  prosecution  and  completion  of 
these  various  enterprises  aggregated  over  $33,000,000. 


f 


JOHN   NEWELL.  1 45 

There  are  many  men  now  occupying  high  positions  in  railway 
and  commercial  circles  who  were  formerly  connected  with  the 
Illinois-Central  Railroad  Company. 

Prominent  among  these  is  Mr.  John  Newell,  president  of  the 
Lake  -  Shore  -  and  -  Michigan  -  Southern  Railway  Company.  As 
far  back  as  1855,  Mr.  Newell  was  division-engineer  on  the  main 
line.  His  knowledge  of  engineering  and  his  experience  in  that 
profession  served  him  well  when  he  returned  to  the  service  of  the 
company.  He  was  elected  its  president  in  187 1.  During  his 
presidency,  he  encountered  a  larger  proportion  of  trials  than 
ordinarily  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  railway-manager.  They  might 
be  summed  up  chiefly  in  three  words — grangerism,  fire,  and 
panic. 

In  187 1,  the  legislature  enacted  the  first  granger  law,  which 
proved  so  odious  in  its  terms  that  the  supreme  court  of  the  state 
declared  it  unconstitutional.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  it  inflicted 
untold  hardships  upon  the  railways  of  the  state,  and,  owing  to 
its  peculiar  geographical  position,  none  suffered  worse  than  the 
Illinois -Central  Railroad.  On  more  than  one  occasion,  law- 
less mobs  undertook  to  dictate  how  the  trains  should  be  run 
on  the  road.  If  there  is  any  one  thing  that  the  average  railway- 
manager  especially  rebels  against,  it  is  to  have  outsiders  interfere 
with  the  running  of  his  trains.  The  good  sense  of  the  people 
soon  prevailed,  and  another  law,  not  so  objectional  in  its  provi- 
sions, was  passed  two  years  after. 

The  great  Chicago  fire,  of  Oct.  8  and  9,  1871,  destroyed  a  very 
large  amount  of  the  company's  property,  including  its  freight- 
houses  with  all  the  valuable  goods  stored  in  them ;  also,  one  of 
the  large  grain-elevators  with  its  contents,*  and  the  commodious 
passenger-depot.     These  severe  losses  almost  paralyzed  for  the 

*  The  other  elevator  was  saved  through  a  fortunate  circumstance.  There 
happened  to  be  loaded  on  a  flat-car  in  the  freight-yard  a  steam,  fire-engine 
which  had  been  ordered  from  an  eastern  manufacturer  for  Beloit,  Wisconsin. 
The  man  in  charge  of  it  volunteered  to  assist  in  unloading  it  and  putting  it  in 
position  for  service,  and,  by  taking  suction  from  the  lake,  a  well-directed 
stream  was  applied  to  the  huge  building  just  as  the  flames  began  to  lick  up  the 
belting  inside  the  door.  The  engine,  which  had  done  such  valuable  service, 
was  purchased  Jiy  Messrs.  J.,  and  E.  Buckingham,  the  lessees  of  the  elevator>. 
IO 


146  T.   B.   BLACKSTONE — MARVIN   HUGHITT. 

time  being  the  business  of  the  road.  As  entrance  to  the  com- 
pany's grounds  in  Chicago  was  completely  obstructed,  it  was  im- 
possible to  receive  or  forward  freight.  The  company's  money 
Joss  by  the  fire  was  about  $300,000.  This,  fortunately,  was 
largely  covered  by  insurance  in  a  reliable  company — the  Liver- 
pool and  London  and  Globe  of  London — which  promptly  paid 
its  obligation  in  full. 

In  1873,  a  financial  panic  swept  over  the  country  with  all  its 
concomitant  evils,  rendering  successful  administration  of  railroad 
affairs  a  matter  of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  The  business  of  the 
country  was  greatly  unsettled  and  prices  of  produce  fell  to  a  very 
low  point.  Corn  sold  on  the  board  of  trade,  Chicago,  in  June 
of  that  year,  as  low  as  27  cents,*  and,  owing  to  the  diversion  of 
grain-carrying  vessels  to  the  ore  trade — then  quite  active,  it  was 
difficult  to  make  charters.  The  consequence  was  that  the  com- 
pany's elevators  were  soon  filled  and  the  movement  of  this  class 
of  traffic  in  the  direction  of  Chicago  was  almost  suspended. 
The  company  was  compelled  to  pay  exorbitant  lake -and- canal 
rates  in  order  to  relieve  their  elevators;  and,  in  some  instances, 
as  high  as  33  cents  per  bushel  was  paid  on  wheat  to  New  York 
— vessel  owners  naturally  taking  advantage  of  the  situation. 

Mr.  Newell,  during  all  these  and  other  various  trials,  proved 
himself  equal  to  every  emergency;  and  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany during  his  connection  with  its  management,  April  14,  187 1 
to  September  n,  1874,  were  administered  with  fidelity  and  on 
his  part  with  an  unflinching  adherence  to  what  he  believed  to 
be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  shareholders. 

Timothy  B.  Blackstone,  the  president  of  the  Chicago -and - 
Alton  Railway,  was  one  of  the  division -engineers  who  assisted 
Col.  R.  B  Mason  in  surveying,  locating,  and  constructing  the  line 
of  the  road  and  was  with  him  from  May,  1851,  to  December, 

i855. 

Mr.  Marvin  Hughitt  was  born  in  August,  1837,  and  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  his  railroad  experience  with  the  Chicago-and- 
Alton  Railroad  in  1856,  in  the  capacity  of  superiutendent  of 
telegraph  and  train-despatcher.     He  entered  the  service  of  the 

*  This  is  the  lowest  price  touched  in  twenty-five  years. 


MANAGEMENT   DURING   THE  WAR.  147 

Illinois -Central  Railroad  Company  in  1862,  and  occupied  the 
positions  of  superintendent  of  telegraph,  train-despatcher,  assist- 
ant-general-superintendent, and  general -superintendent,  succes- 
sively. He  was  appointed  general-superintendent  in  1866 — suc- 
ceeding W.  R.  Arthur,  who  had  held  that  position  for  about  seven 
years — and  remained  in  that  position  until  1870.  The  period  of 
his  connection  with  the  company  was  a  somewhat  trying  one.  It 
was  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  rebellion,  when  the  railway  ser- 
vice was  a  hard  field  to  occupy.  The  demoralization  incident  to 
the  war  seemed  to  permeate  every  part  of  the  line  and  unfortu- 
nately it  was  not  confined  to  the  subordinates.  Many  of  the  men 
in  the  different  departments  having  enlisted  in  the  army,  their 
places  had  to  be  supplied  by  new  and  inexperienced  hands.  Per- 
fect discipline  was  practically  impossible.  The  earnings  of  the  line 
were  very  large,  but  all  supplies  and  materials  had  to  be  bought 
at  war-prices.  The  equipment,  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  was 
inadequate  to  the  demands  upon  it,  and  these  demands  were  all 
the  more  difficult  to  meet  with  an  unballasted  roadbed  upon  a 
prairie  soil.  These  disadvantages,  particularly  at  a  time  when 
the  resources  of  the  road  were  greatly  overtaxed,  required  about 
as  much  heroism  as  any  that  was  displayed  on  the  field  of  battle,, 
and  reflected  great  credit  upon  those  who  could  bring  good 
results  out  of  such  comparatively  disordered  conditions,  and  Mr. 
Hughitt  was  well  entitled  to  a  share  of  this  credit. 

For  awhile,  the  United  -  States  government  hesitated  about 
making  payments  to  the  company  for  transportation  of  troops 
and  munitions  of  war.  Hon.  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  then  a  mem- 
ber of  congress  from  Illinois,  took  the  ground  that  the  company 
was  obliged  under  its  charter  to  carry  them  free.  If  congress 
adopted  this  view,  it  meant  bankruptcy  for  the  road.  The  matter 
was  very  thoroughly  discussed  and  exhaustively  examined  by 
congress,  and  a  conclusion  was  reached  in  exact  accordance  with 
the  charter  —  that  the  roadbed  should  remain  open  a  "public 
highway"  free  for  the  transportation  of  troops  and  war -materials, 
for  the  government;  but  that  the  company  was  not  expected  to. 
furnish  equipment  supplies  and  men  free.  An  adjustment  was 
made  by  which  the  company  received  a  proportion  of  cash  earn- 


148  IOWA   LINES  —  DUBUQUE    BRIDGE. 

ings  corresponding  to  the  value  of  the  train  service  and  labor 
supplied  by  it  in  the  work  it  did  for  the  government. 

The  year  after  the  close  of  the  war,  1866,  there  was  a  large 
decline  in  the  passenger  traffic  consequent  upon  the  discontinu- 
ance of  hostilities.  The  South  had  been  desolated  by  the  war, 
its  labor  system  was  disorganized  and  its  industries  were  not  yet 
reconstructed,  so  that  its  impoverished  people  were  unable  to 
purchase  much.  The  southern  states  not  taking  their  usual  supply 
of  food  from  the  north,  traffic  in  that  direction  decreased.  The 
roadbed  and  equipment,  owing  to  the  heavy  traffic  of  the  five 
years  preceding,  were  greatly  deteriorated  and  this  called  for  large 
expenditures  in  the  way  of  reconstruction,  sadly  affecting  net 
results. 

October  1,  1867,  the  Dubuque-and-Sioux-City  Railroad  was 
leased;  but  all  the  traffic  at  Dunleith  had  to  be  transported 
across  the  river  to  Dubuque  by  ferry.  This  year  the  construction 
of  the  Dunleith-and-Dubuque  bridge  was  commenced,  but  it  was 
not  opened  for  business  until  January  1,  1869.  In  1869,  the 
corn  crop  in  central  Illinois  was  a  failure.  54  miles  of  Cedar- 
Falls-and-Minnesota  and  49  miles  of  the  Iowa-Falls-and-Sioux- 
City  railroads  were  constructed  this  year  but  both  lines  — the 
former  to  Mona  and  the  latter  to  Sioux  City — were  not  completed 
until  the  following  year.  In  1869,  the  Iowa  system  reached  the 
total  length  of  402  miles. 

In  1870,  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  Belleville -and - 
Southern -Illinois  Railroad  for  running  through  trains  between 
Cairo  and  St.  Louis. 

In  1 87 1,  Mr.  Hughitt  was  succeeded  as  general-superintendent 
by  Mr.  Abram  Mitchell,  having  resigned  to  accept  the  position 
of  assistant-general-manager  of  the  Chicago, -Mil  waukee-and-St- 
Paul  Railway.  In  the  same  year,  he  became  superintendent  of 
the  Pullman  Palace-Car  Company.  In  February,  1872,  his  con- 
nection with  the  Chicago-and-Northwestern  Railway  commenced, 
in  which  company  he  held  with  great  credit  to  himself  and  to  the 
material  prosperity  of  said  company  the  various  positions  of 
superintendent,  general-manager,  and  second  vice-president,  and 
finally  rose  to  the  presidency. 


CONCLUSION.  149 

The  present  managers  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany have  a  goodly  heritage.  They  would  do  well  to  emulate 
the  example  of  their  predecessors  in  carrying  along  a  work  born 
in  integrity  of  purpose  —  prosecuted  with  heroism  under  every 
conceivable  adversity  to  a  successful  completion — and  now  com- 
ing into  their  hands  within  the  past  half-dozen  years  with  no  taint 
of  mismanagement — with  no  shadow  of  questionable  transactions 
— or  wrong  doing  of  any  sort,  involving  injustice  to  their  share- 
holders, their  responsibility  to  whom  they  so  freely  acknowledged 
and  so  faithfully  fulfilled. 

The  construction  of  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad  marked  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  an  era  in  which  it 
could  turn  from  the  mortification  of  broken  pledges,  and  despair 
of  insolvency,  to  the  bright  realization  of  restored  credit  at  home 
and  abroad.  Well  has  the  state  profited  by  its  sad  experience, 
"internal  improvement"  need  be  no  longer  dreamily  indulged  in 
as  a  joyful  anticipation  of  childish  fancy — -for  it  is  now  being 
worked  out  to  its  fullest  completion.  Well  may  its  sons  rejoice, 
and  let  them  not  forget  to  honor  the  memory  of  those  who  filled 
important  parts  in  the  work  of  construction  and  commercial 
progress. 


150  MILEAGE. 


ILLINOIS-CENTRAL  RAILROAD  CO.'S   MILEAGE. 

NORTHERN    LINES: 

Chicago  division,  Chicago  to  Cairo,    ..          ..          ..  364.80 

Main  line,  East  Dubuque  to  Main-Line  Junction,  ..   341.95 

South-Chicago  branch,  Park  Side  to  South  Chicago,  4.63 
St.  Charles  air-line,  16th  Street  to  West  Side  Chicago  River,     .75 

Wisconsin  division,  South  Elmhurst  to  Freeport,      ..  94.80 

Madison  branch,  Freeport  to  Madison,    ..          ..  ..     61.59 

Dodgeville  branch,  Freeport  to  Dodgeville,  ..          ..  65.32 

Springfield  division,  Oilman  to  Springfield,          ..  ..    n  2. 14 

Havana  branch,  Champaign  to  Havana,       ..          ..  100.75 

Decatur  branch,  White  Heath  to  Decatur,          . .  . .     46.06 

Pontiac  division,  Otto  to  Normal  Junction,  ..          ..  79.46 

Coal  branch,  Buckingham  to  end  of  track,           ..  ..      10.00 

Pontiac  branch,  Kempton  Junction  to  Kankakee  Junction,  41.80 

Rantoul  division,  West  Lebanon  to  Leroy,         . .  . .     74.43 

1398.48 

WESTERN     LINES: 

Dubuque  division,  Dubuque  to  Carbon  Y,    ..          ..  187.66 

Cedar-Rapids  branch,  Manchester  to  Cedar  Rapids,  4*-74 

Cedar-Falls  branch,  C.  F.  and  M.  Junction  to  Lyle,      ..  75.80 

Cherokee  division,  Storm  Lake  to  Sioux  City,         ..  134.91 

Sioux-Falls  branch,  Cherokee  to  Sioux  Falls,     ..          ..  96.50 

Onawa  branch,  Cherokee  to  Onawa,             .-          ..  56.73 

593-34 

SOUTHERN    LINES: 

Mississippi  division,  East  Cairo  to  Canton,        .  ..     341.03 

Aberdeen  branch,  Aberdeen  to  Durant,       ..  ..           108.25 

Louisiana  division,  Canton  to  New  Orleans,     ..  ..     207.45 

Yazoo  and  Mississippi,  Yazoo  City  to  Parsons,  ..           ix5»?5 

Lexington  branch,  Durant  to  Tchula  Junction,  ..       24.67 

Memphis  division,  Memphis  to  Grenada,     .-  ..            100.00 

896.65 


Total  mileage         2888.47 


DIRECTORS. 


151 


DIRECTORS  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 

-CENTRAL 

R.R. 

CO 

WITH    DATE    OF   THEIR 

ELECTION. 

1851-1890 

*Jonathan  Sturges, 

February 

10, 

1851. 

*George  Griswold, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Gouverneur  Morris, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*  David  A.  Neal, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*John  F.  A.  Sanford, 

February 

10, 

1851 

Franklin  Haven, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Leroy  M.  Wiley, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Robert  Rantoul,  jr. 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Henry  Grinnell, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Thomas  W.  Ludlow, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Joseph  VV.  Alsop, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Gov.  Augustus  C.  French, 

February 

10, 

1851 

*Robert  Schuyler, 

February 

10, 

1851 

The  foregoing,  with  the  governor  of  Illinois,  constituted  the 
first  board  of  directors;  the  following  named  were  afterward 
elected : 


*  Morris  Ketchum,     . . 
♦William  P.  Burrall, 
*Gov.  Joel  A.  Matteson, 
*J.  Newton  Perkins, 
William  H.  Osborn, 

*  Frederick  C.  Gebhard, 
J.  N.  A.  Griswold,     .  . 
James  F.  Joy, 
*Thomas  E.  Walker, 
*Ebenezer  Lane,  " 
*Gov.  William  H.  Bissell, 
Abram  S.  Hewitt, 

*  Deceased. 


April  15,  1 85 1. 
March  16,  1853. 
January  1,  1852. 
August  n,  1854. 
August  11,  1854. 
October  24,  1854. 
December  5,  1854. 
March  21,  1854. 
November  7,  1855. 
December  6,  1855. 
January  1,  1856. 
March  19,  1856. 


152 


DIRECTORS. 


*Pierre  Chouteau,  jr., 
Gustavus  W.  Smith, 
*William  Tracy, 
*Gov.  Richard  Yates, 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks, 
John  M.  Douglas, 
James  C.  Fargo, 
William  R.  Arthur, 
H.  H.  Hunnewell,     . . 
Edwin  H.  Sheldon, 
James  Caird, 
Cunningham  Borthwick, 
Gov.  Richard  J.  Oglesby, 
Henry  Chauncey, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt, 
*  Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  .. 
R.  Daniel  Wolterbeek, 
Gov.  John  M.  Palmer,    . . 
George  Bliss, 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Louis  A.  Von  Hoffman, 
John  Newell, 
*Lucien  Tilton, 
William  H.  Gebhard, 
William  K.  Ackerman, 
Gov.  John  L.  Beveridge, 
L  V.  F.  Randolph,  . . 
*Abram  R.  Van  Nest, 
Frederick  Sturges, 
Constantine  Menelas, 
Gov.  Shelby  M.  Cullom, 
A.  G.  Dulman, 
Stuyvesant  Fish, 
Benjamin  F.  Ayer, 
James  C.  Clarke, 
*John  Elliott,       .. 

Deceased. 


March  18,  1857* 
December  12,  1857. 
April  12,  1859. 
January  1,  i860. 
September  6,  i860. 
May  29,  1 86 1. 
May  28,  1862. 
May  28,  1862. 
May  28,  1862. 
May  28,  1862. 
May  27,  1863. 
May  27,  1863. 
January   1,  1864. 
May  25,  1864. 
June  14,  1864. 
May  31,  1865. 
December  13,  1865. 
January  1,  1868. 
May  27,  1868. 
May  31,  1871. 
May  31,  1871. 
May  31,  1871. 
May  31,  1871. 
May  31,  1871. 
May  29,  1872. 
January  1,  1873. 
January  28,  1873. 
January  26,  1875. 
October  26,  1875. 
December  15,  1875. 
January  1,  1876. 
March  16,  1877. 
March  16,  1877. 
April  25,  1877. 
May  30,  1877. 
May  30,  1877. 


DIRECTORS. 


153 


W.  Bayard  Cutting, 

Sidney  Webster, 

Gov.  John  M.  Hamilton, 

Edward  H.  Harriman,    .. 

Gov.  Richard  J.  Oolesby,  2d  term, 

Walther  Luttgen, 

Robert  Goelet, 

S.  Van  Rensalaer  Cruger, 

William  Waldorf  Astor, 

Oliver  Harriman, 

Levi  P.  Morton,- 

John  W.  Auchincloss, 

Gov.  Joseph  W.  Fifer, 

J.  C.  Welling, 

*Charles  M.  Da  Costa, 
George  Bliss, 


May  28,  1879. 
April,  19,  1882. 
February  6,  1883. 
May  30,  1883. 
January  1,  1884. 
March  12,  1084. 
March  12,  1884. 
March  12,  1884. 
March  11,  1885. 
March  10,  1886. 
March  10,  1886. 
May  3,  1888. 
January  1,  1889. 
March  9,  1889. 
March  13,  1889. 
March  13,  1889. 


PRESIDENTS: 


*  Robert  Schuyler,   . . 
*William  P.  Burrall,      . . 
John  N.  A.  Griswold, 
William  Henry  Osborn, 
John  M.  Douglas,    . . 
John  Newell, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt, 
John  M.  Douglas, 
William  K.  Ackerman, 
James  C.  Clarke, 
Stuyvesant  Fish, 

*  Deceased. 


March  19,  1851  to  July  11,  1853. 
July  28,  1853  to  Nov.  23,  1854. 
Jan.  10,  1855  to  Dec.  1,  1855. 
Dec.  1,  1855  to  July  11,  1865. 
July  11,  1865  to  March  14,  187 1. 
April   14,  1871  to  Sept.  11,  1874. 
Sept.  11,  1874  to  Jan.  28,  1875. 
Jan.  28,  1875  to  July  17,  1876. 
Oct.  17,  1877  to  Aug.  15,  1883. 
Aug.  15,  1883  to  May  18,  1887. 
May  18,  1887. 


FERGUS    PHINTINO    COMPANY.     CHICAOO. 


